The Beginning of the End
by K.D.King
Summary: Cass Dolan was abandoned years ago, no one knows who her parents were. When she joins Hogwarts it becomes clear that maybe she can't keep running from who she really is- and will it all catch up with her before she can decide which side she belongs?
1. Chapter 1

'Dolan, Cassiopeia' there was a muttering through the Great Hall as McGonagall read it out. She wasn't quite Potter but this was near enough, most years they had no one known- now they had the boy who lived _**and**_ Cassiopeia Dolan. She was taller than most of the eleven year olds she stood with, her dark hair long and lightly curly. She had light eyes, pale skin and deeply red lips, and she was one of the few new students who wasn't totally swamped by huge robes and swept up the stairs with clear confidence. She muttered to McGonagall 'It's just Cass…' but was ignored as the sorting hat was dropped onto her head. The hat took a few minutes to make a decision, the muttering from the seated students continuing until it bellowed it's decision 'GRYFFINDOR'. The table of red and gold stood up and applauded her as she made her way over, looking more than a little relieved.

The list of names was slowly worked through and Cass felt a lot of eyes on her as she watched without much interest. She was aware why everyone watched, why they whispered, and why they were staring and gossiping. Eleven years previously a tiny baby had been left on the steps of St. Mungo's Hospital with a note attached to the swaddling cloth she was wrapped in _'This child cannot be raised by us. If we win the war then we will return for her. Name her Cassiopeia Dolan'. _There had been no name of the parents, not even an initial, there hadn't been a single clue about who the baby belonged to.

The abandoned baby had been plastered all over the Prophet at the time, happening not long before the Potter's were killed. In living memory no magical child had ever been left like this, and she had been shipped around from house to house until she was eight, when the Diggory family had taken her in for good. Their only other child Cedric was fiercely protective of her and the family had taken her in as their own, though she had kept the 'Dolan' name. Every few years some nosy reporter- normally that bloody Rita Skeeter- had tried to write an article, looking for who had left her on the steps. The only thing everyone agreed on was clear- Either her parents had been on the good side and had died, or they had been Death Eaters, and had lost the war.

Lost in her own thoughts about the whispers and mutterings around her Cass glanced around and met the eyes of the chubby boy opposite her with his prominent ears and wide smile. He looked bright and happy, grinning at her, she found herself smiling back and tried hard to remember his name from the sorting. Neville was it? She couldn't remember but smiled back, neither realising what they were at the beginning of.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the beginning of their third year and everyone was hurrying up and down the platform, everyone was late, as always. Ron was looking round. 'Anyone seen Cass? Thought she was meeting us on the platform?'. Everyone glanced around and Fred nodded towards the entrance, where Amos Diggory was hurrying through with Cedric and Cass. The three looked windswept and Amos was ushering his children quickly, seeing the large group of ginger's and heading towards the Weasley's as the whistle blew loudly, signalling everyone to get on board. Cedric quickly said goodbye to his Dad and muttered something to Cass that made her pull a sour face and throws him a dirty look before kissing her father on the cheek and hurrying over to the Weasley's as they boarded the train.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Cass were wandering up and down the train, trying to find a carriage to themselves. Cass was a good friend to them, she spent most of her time with Neville, Dean and Seamus or Lavender and the Patil's. Cass had become a friend to most people, often joining in with a Weasley prank or two , which Cedric never seemed to find quite as amusing as everyone else.

The only place they could find was already occupied by a man sleeping in the corner, his tatty initialled case giving them nothing to go on as to his identity. Ron made the point that he was already asleep, he probably wouldn't mind if they crashed the carriage. It doesn't take long for the conversation to turn to Sirius Black's escape, which had happened a few months before. Harry noticed two things during the conversation, Scabber's -the mangy rat of Ron's- was going crazy, running everywhere and squeaking loudly as Ron tried to keep a hold of him. The other thing he noticed was that at the mention of Sirius Black's escape, Cass looked ill and went quiet, staring obviously out the window. 'Cass…? Are you okay?'. She made a non-committal noise and looked around, eyes dark. 'Something's wrong. I can feel it'. There was a long silence and none of the three spoke, looking closely at Cass, who looked all wound up, like a cat waiting to attack, her eyes sharp and the hairs on her arms on end. None of them questioned her further. Cass seemed to have a sixth sense with these types of things, in first year she had felt sick and shaky every time they'd had a Defence against the Dark Arts, and the Basilisk had only attacked when Cass had been out of the castle, or in the hospital wing with three cracked ribs and blue tinged skin from her involvement in a Weasley twins prank that had gone badly wrong.

It was two minutes later when the train darkened, ground to a halt and ice began to form over the glass. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked terrified, but Cass simply looked around the carriage, her eyes glassy and distant as she muttered 'I told you…they're here…they're looking for us'. The black figures move like ghosts outside the glass before it slides open slowly. Harry screamed as the voices began in his head and Cass starts hyperventilating as the figure moves into the carriage. Before she passed out Cass saw the sleeping figure in the corner stand up sharply and a light appear. She fell to the floor sharply as Harry slumped in his chair, the white light doing nothing to quell the unearthly screaming in her ears. The last thing she heard was a woman screaming 'My son! My son! Leave my Son!'. It was a voice she had heard from somewhere, she didn't yet know who it was. The day she worked it out would come soon, and it would unravel her entire life.


	3. Chapter 3

Cass wouldn't speak about what had happened in the train, Malfoy had made a comment about it and she had cursed him so forcefully he'd been sent to the hospital wing for a potion and Cass had been given three weeks detention. She really hadn't seemed at all bothered, becoming angry and defiant to more and more teachers. Snape had always had something of a soft spot for Cass, the only non- Slytherin that he treated without total disdain. it was clearly because of her skill, whilst Hermione could read a recipe to every detail, Cass seemed to do a lot of experimentation and 99.9% of the time it worked better than everyone else's potions. The problem that Cass had always had with her other classes was that whilst she was incredibly powerful magically, she was easily distracted and spent more of her time talking or messing around than actually making the effort.

Everyone who was taking Trelawney's class was sceptical apart from about two students. Trelawney left the room in their second class to find a book for the over enthusiastic Lavender, and had asked them to examine their tea leaves. Seamus glanced over in Ron's cup 'So it's not just me that sees a black-green lump at the bottom of my cup?' most of them shook their heads, agreeing with his scepticism. Cass was writing something down 'you see something?' she shook he head. 'Of course not, I just want at least one subject that I'm not in detention this week'. 'Snape hasn't given you one' 'Ron that's because I actually did my essay- unlike some people' 'I forgot!' 'hmm, anyway, I've got a detention every day this week already, there's no time for any more!'

They laughed as Trelawney came back in. 'See everyone is enjoying themselves in this calm, peaceful and wonderful environment' there was a series of vague 'uhuh' noises from them as they glanced over their cups again, Trelawney coming round and inspecting them. 'Oooh Neville, it looks like luck is coming your way...Ronald, this will not be a good week for you'. Beside her, Ron grumbled to himself and Trelawney looked down again 'Cassiopeia, my dear, it looks like you've got trouble heading your way'. She rolled her eyes 'any more trouble and I'll probably be kicked out'. As usual, Trelawney wasn't listening and wandered off to some of the other student, who were hurriedly pretending they had seen something deep and meaningful.

Obviously, Cass had no idea what was heading her way, she had a bad feeling in her stomach as she headed to Defence Against the Dark Arts after lunch, but didn't expect what would happen. It was their second lesson on boggarts, the first had been a long explanation on them and how to deal with them, this lesson Lupin would be letting them loose on the actual thing. Lupin was probably showing a lot of common sense here as many of them seemed shell shocked when their fears appeared before them, and it was clear that if they hadn't had the lecture, none of them would have gotten very far.

Lupin made it clear that after any student had completed their spell against the boggart, they should leave the class, making it easier for him to handle each individual student. Harry and Cass were the last to go, both intentionally holding back for fear of what would come out at them. Hermione, Ron and Neville were sitting to one side, talking quietly in the classroom, which was empty apart from the three of them, Harry, Cass and a wary looking Lupin, who instructed Cass to step forward. 'Do you have any idea of what is going to come out of this cupboard Cass?' She shook her head slowly and he waved his wand, the doors quickly opening.

There was mostly fog, rolling in billows out of the cupboard as a disembodied voice came too, a strange pitch and the tone was changing at every few words. 'Cassiopeia, you are a blessed child. You will have all the riches in life, you will want for nothing. You have all the power and magic in the world we can give. One day you will be more powerful than Albus Dumbledore. One day you will be with us again'. Cass was so pale that it looked like she'd seen a basilisk, Lupin was saying something to her but stopped abruptly as a huge black snake appeared from the cupboard. It dropped with a heavy thud and slid towards her, though it wasn't menacing her, it seemed protective in a way. From wherever the voice had come from there was now a petrified scream, echoing through the room. Lupin waved his wand and everything disappeared and it seemed like the light in the room returned, everyone looked at her with shock. 'Cass?' She opened her mouth uselessly and looked around in shock 'I…what…?' She didn't manage to say anything else and hurried from the room, Neville immediately running after her.


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione and Ron were sat opposite Harry in the Great Hall that lunch time, looking confused as they piled their plates with food. Harry glanced up and down the hall, neither Neville nor Cass were there. Ron spoke first 'I wonder why Cass is scared of snakes' Hermione shrugged 'It's a very rational fear to be honest, That wasn't a normal snake though was it'. They all knew what she meant, that hadn't been the type of snake most people would ever see in their lifetimes, it was huge.

Ron muttered. 'You think the snake was Nagini?' Harry shrugged and shook his head. 'I don't know...I think we should-.' A cold voice from behind cut them off. '***_I_*** think you should mind your own business- but that's just me'. They all looked up quickly to see Cass, her arms folded and her face incredibly stony and cold, matching her eyes. 'Cass, I-'. She turned and started to walk away, Hermione running after her. 'Cass!Cass!'

Cass got to the huge doors before she turned and shouted at the frizzy brunette. 'NO!STAY AWAY FROMME AND STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!'

Hermione looked shocked, everyone going silent in shock as well 'Cass-we weren't trying to-' Cass wasn't going to listen though and cut the brunette off, shouting into her face 'I HEARD YOU- LEARN WHAT'S YOUR BUSINESS AND WHAT ISN'T BECAUSE NEXT TIME YOU PUT YOUR NOSE IN WHERE IT ISN'T WANTED'. Cass whipped her wand out, though it was pointed at the floor. 'BECAUSE NEXT TIME I WILL-'.

A curt voice cut her off, loudly bellowing over her own voice. 'Miss Dolan, my office-NOW!' The whole hall looked up to see McGonagall and Snape standing halfway down the hall, looking angry. 'You too, miss Granger'. Harry and Ron spoke over the silence. 'Professor- it was us as well'. Cass looked coldly over them. 'The three musketeers, how nice'. Dumbledore stood up. 'Professor Snape, how about my office instead, I'll join you shortly'.

Cass was sitting poker faced in one of the gold and black leather seats, staring at the wall vacantly. Snape and McGonagall were standing behind the desk and the Trio were seated together about a metre away from Cass. Through the silence, the door opened and Dumbledore and Lupin came in. The elderly wizard swept through the office. 'Have you spoken to them Severus?' He shook his head.

'We thought we'd wait until you came up here'. His eyes flitted over Lupin and there was a moment of coldness before he looked back at Dumbledore who sat down, looking over the desk at the four students. 'Minerva, as they are members of your house...?' She nodded. 'Miss Dolan and Miss Granger, I hope you both understand that as your Head of House I hold a rather dim view of your shouting match in the middle of Dinner'. They both nodded.

'Now- I want an explanation'. Cass glanced at the Trio coldly and looked back at McGonagall. 'As I said, they were sticking their noses into my personal life-'. Ron cut in. '-No we were just discussing-'. Cass was shouting this time. 'You were just *discussing* were you? Have you forgotten that it's none of your business? Or does that not matter?'. Ron looked affronted 'What's that supposed to mean?' She stood up angrily. 'The three of you think you can just do anything you want and get away with it- just because you're the 'golden trio' do WHATEVER YOU WANT!'

She tuned to walk away but Snape and Lupin shouted at the same time. 'CASS SIT DOWN-NOW!' Angrily, she sat down heavily in the seat, looking like she could murder someone. Snape had an eyebrow raised and Dumbledore chuckled lightly. 'For someone so small Miss Dolan you can make a lot of noise'. Cass made no motion if having found it funny and McGonagall sighed, looking at the Trio. 'One of you- please- tell me what happened'. Harry answered. 'We were talking about why happened today...uh, in Defence against the Dark Arts'.

Snape threw a cold expression to Lupin at the same time Cass sighed angrily, staring at the top bookcases, she spoke before Harry could. 'We were confronting Boggarts, mine was a snake and Harry, Ron and Hermione took it upon themselves to sit and speculate about why it took that form'. Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall all looked intrigued. Their potions teacher raised an eyebrow. 'And this was so infuriating to you...why?' Hermione spoke 'It wasn't just a snake sir- there was this black fog and then the snake came out of the cabinet- it was a huge snake- and it was just staring at Cass'. Under her breath she muttered something darkly that could have been a curse it was full of so much anger.

McGonagall looked confused. 'I think I'm missing something here, are you telling be that this argument broke out because you were confronting a fear of snakes?' Ron bit his lip. 'Professor, the snake was about six foot long and she walked out rather than jinx it...when Cass overheard us it was when we were talking about what it said'.

Snape looked up sharply. 'Excuse me?' Ron looked uncomfortable 'Yeah... The snake was speaking'. 'And what did it say?' Harry glanced at Cass who was staring at the wall, she had tightened her grip on the chair arms so much that her knuckles were white and her arms were shaking as he quietly recounted the words the snake had said.

McGonagall looked shocked and muttered 'oh gosh...' under her breath. The other teachers all looked surprised too. Ron looked over. 'Cass-I'm sorry'. Swiftly she stood up, the chair scraping loudly on the floor 'It's too late now-you're probably going to have half the House know about this in an hour'. 'We won't-' 'We didn't know this was so important-'

Cass looked even more annoyed now 'If you had any idea the reason behind that Boggarts for you would have all kept your mouths shut, I can guarantee that'. Her response was cryptic and Lupin raised an eyebrow 'Cass, these are your friends, you can tell them these types of things'. Cass simply rolled her eyes 'if you knew who my parents were then you'd realise why I preferred to keep myself to myself'. There was a pause and Snape looked surprised 'you know who your parents are?' Her eyes darkened 'I've known for a while, and it's hardly something I want to share around. Now if that's everything, I'm going back to my dormitory'. She didn't wait for a response and simply stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

_A.N- I personally think it's obvious who her parents are already but then I am a little biased. Anyone got a any guesses? Please review etc x_


	5. Chapter 5

It was Hagrid's first lesson and whilst he was glad to have the Gryffindor's, he was less enthusiastic however that the class was going to be mixed with Slytherins.

Cass hadn't spoken to or even looked at Harry, Ron or Hermione since the incident in the Great Hall a few days previously. She had spent all her time either in one of her numerous detentions, catching up with homework or in Quidditch practice. She had been allowed into the team as a Chaser, frankly she was also far far better than anyone had previously expected. It turned out that Cedric had spent years making sure his little sister could fly well.

Cass had barely spoken to anyone except Neville and the Weasley twins, who had spent a lot of time in detentions with her over the last few weeks.

The Care of Magical Creatures lesson was already off to a bad start when Crabbe and Goyle made a comment under their breath to Cass on the walk down. She had promptly hexed them, Goyle sprouting antlers and Crabbe's teeth and hair growing quickly, both of them running quickly back up to the castle.

Cass had been standing a little way away from the others when Buckbeack had been introduced. Everyone had been seemingly terrified of the creature except her, which Hagrid's noticed

'Cass, you want to come over to Buckbeak? All you have to do is bow and he'll-'. He was cut off by the huge animal bowing incredibly low to The thirteen year old, without her initiating anything.

Buckbeak moved closer to her and Cass didn't move until the animal was directly in front of her. Tentatively she reached out a hand and stroked the animals face, looking up and seeing the whole class looking at her with amazement.

'You want to ride him Cass?' she shook her head vehemently and Hagrid nodded, a little confused by the animals reaction 'so who wants to ride Buckbeak here?'. He turned back around and saw that Harry was - unwillingly- standing in front of the others. 'Harry! Well done son'.

Cass watched as Harry bowed to the Hippogriff and it bowed back, and then he was thrown on the back of the animal by Hagrid.

As Harry flew around the grounds Draco moved closer to Cass, his eyes dark 'so, you think you can just go around cursing people and not get any repercussions from it?'.

She rolled her eyes 'I hexed them, I don't curse them. And anyway, it'll teach your little friends to actually keep a look out, you would think that you Death Eater children would be more aware of your surroundings-'.

Draco looked furious and pulled his wand, though it was pointed at the floor 'Dolan don't mess with things you don't understand. Or maybe you do-'. He muttered a surname and internally she felt her blood run cold. It was the surname of the parents who had abandoned her years ago.

Cass managed to make sure her face remained the same, giving away nothing. 'I think you should check your research Draco'. She turned and stormed out of the clearing an out of the class, not looking back once.

It was at Lunch that McGonnagal came sweeping down the Great Hall, Snape in tow. They were heading straight for Cass, who was reading a heavy text book; everyone around her went quiet to listen as McGonnagal started speaking angrily. 'Miss Dolan, have you got an excuse for your behaviour today? First you hex two members of Slytherin House and then you walk out of a class without permission- do you have an excuse?'. Cass looked blankly over the two teachers and shrugged 'I'll take the detentions'.

McGonnagal and Snape both gave Cass detentions, though she was already in three this week with her was of house. Minerva was worried as she looked over Cass, who was mutely accepting the punishments; the last three years had changed her from a carefree child into a hardened, angry young woman. Minerva was worried, and she could tell by Snape's expression as Cass stood up and left the Great Hall that he was too.

Cedric stepped in front of Cass as she made it to the doors of the Great Hall, looking incredibly annoyed 'I heard you managed to get yourself yet another detention for hexing Crabbe and Goyle. I hardly blame you, but if Dad finds out about how much trouble you've been in- he's going to be so angry. Sort it out Cass'. Cedric was the only person who could knock any sense into her, maybe they weren't related by blood but he was still her brother, and Amos and Seren Diggory were her parents, regardless of blood and DNA.

Cass nodded slightly and Cedric saw how uncomfortable she looked, glancing around her to check no one could hear them. Her voice was barely a whisper 'Ced, Draco Malfoy, he guessed it today, I pretended he was wrong but he guessed it'. Cedric didn't have to question what she meant, he knew she was talking about who her biological parents were 'Bloody hell, you think it was just a guess?'. Cass shrugged, checking still for anyone within earshot 'I don't know, but if everyone finds out...'. She trailed off uselessly, they both knew the scandal it would bring both socially and in the media. Cass had worked it out years ago, telling the only person she trusted implicitly. Cedric had verified the facts for her, though to their knowledge no one else had connected the dots to work it out.

As far as they were aware, they were the only people who knew that she was a member of the worst family in wizarding history, with more evil wizards than any other family tree. They didn't want anyone else to know that Cass was the child of a member of the Black family.


	6. Chapter 6

Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts class was the last one the Gryffindor third years had of the week, all thankful that the last lesson on the Friday was their favourite.

Lupin greeted them all warmly as they filed in, moods lifting as they did. 'Mr Finnegan, good work on your essay. Mr Longbottom, very impressed with your work on Phenoc's. Aaah, Miss Dolan, you know what today is?'.

Cass shrugged, looking blank and Lupin grinned 'we had a staff meeting earlier and it would seem that you are FINALLY free of detentions- for now at least'. There was a laughing rounding applause and the lesson got started.

That evening at dinner Cass was finally getting on again with everyone, rather than ignoring them or turning everything into an argument, which made a change.

It was towards the end of the meal, when she was conspiring with the Weasley twins that she suddenly went pale.

Her skin was white and she started shaking, looking like she was going to be sick and holding her head painfully. 'Cass? Cass what's wrong?' she managed to mumble through gritted teeth 'something's wrong. Something's not right'.

It was only as everyone was heading up to the common room a few minutes later that they saw what was wrong. The entrance to the Gryffindor common room was slashed open, the fat lady gone.

Everyone turned immediately to look at Cass, who was looking even more feint. Those who hadn't realised it in the first and second year were now aware of Cass's ability to sense danger.

Harry lay awake that night in the Great Hall, listening to the teachers walking up and down. He was near several of his friends but they were all fast asleep, he was the only one awake, breathing slowly to draw attention away. Snape and McGonnagal were wandering together up and down the sleeping students, muttering quietly.

'Black hasn't been found. He must have escaped' Snape murmured 'well it's not the escaping that's the problem, it's the entering the castle in the first place that's the issue'.

'Does Potter know how much danger he's in? A murderer is after him. Poor boy survives You Know Who over and over, now he has Sirius Black to deal with'. There was a pause and Snape sighed lightly 'I'm sure the headmaster will decide what he needs to know. It's not Potter that needs protecting anymore is it, it's Cass Dolan that's probably in as much danger when Sirius Black works out his family tree'.

Harry was lying on his side and flustered his eyes down, meeting eyes with Cass, who looked terrified.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry waited for the teachers to move on before moving slightly closer to Cass, whispering to his terrified looking friend.

'Cass- what they said...?' she nodded slightly, expression bleak 'it's true, please...don't say anything...please?'.

Harry nodded awkwardly, looking over her terrified face. 'It's okay. I'll keep it quiet'. He was quiet for a few seconds before asking 'Cass?' she nodded and he continued 'who's your parents? You must know?'.

Cass stared out Harry for a long time before muttering the names to him.

She didn't wait to see the shock on his face, turning back over away from him, now only able to see her back, able to hear her shaky breathing.

The next day when everyone slowly woke up it became clear quickly that Cass was no longer in the Great Hall. The teachers were amiss as to how she had even managed to leave, which they had thought was impossible after all their spells and charms.

All the teachers immediately spread out over the school to find her.

It was Lupin that found her, sitting on the grass out the front of the castle, staring into the lake. He made his way over towards her 'Cass? Are you okay?'.

She turned and nodded slightly, watching as Lupin sent a patronus storming towards the school, evidently a messenger one for the other teachers to say she was okay. Lupin moved nearer to her, seeing the expression on her face, which was utterly broken and sad. He faltered for a moment before speaking.

'Cass...what's wrong?' Lupin glanced up as he spotted Snape sweeping his way across the grass towards them. 'Dolan, what in merlin's name are you doing out here?'. She turned around and both teachers saw how red rimmed her eyes were and the tear stains down her face.

Snape faltered for a second 'Cass...what's happened?'. She swallowed down the lump in her throat 'you both know, don't you?'. 'know what?' she sighed 'know who my parents are...I can tell, the way you look at me- it's in your eyes, both of you'.

Snape and Lupin glanced at eachother and eventually nodded. 'Yes. I think we're some of the only ones'. Cass looked absolutely destroyed, tears in her eyes 'I always wanted it to be untrue...that I'd got it wrong...I'm in danger too, aren't I? With Sirius Black on the run?'.

Snape and Lupin were quiet for a second and Cass stood up, looking at both of them, voice emotionless 'I don't need to hear you say it. I already know he's after me...I can just...tell'.

Cass offered no more on the topic, walking slowly back up to the school doors, and accepting the three days of detention she was given. Following the incident she literally didn't say a single word to anyone but Neville and Cedric for a whole week.

Cass was dressed in the gold and red robes the following week, waiting for the Quidditch match to begin.

They were all standing on the pitch waiting for Madame Hooch to come over through the torrential rain when Cedric made his way over to Cass, touching her shoulder lightly. 'There's a strong cross wind, try and stay facing into it as much as you can, otherwise the bludgers have more if a chance of getting you'.

Cass blinked in surprise 'why are you saying this? We're on opposing teams?'. Cedric shrugged, a slight smile on his lips 'you're my baby sister, if anyone hurts you I'll kill them, even if it's my own team'.

Their conversation was split up by Madame Hooch hurrying over and starting the game. Gryffindor were winning but only marginally, Cass had scored three times but Hufflepuff were uncharacteristically good and were fighting back well.

A bludger had been aimed directly at Cass's stomach and she'd nearly thrown up, causing a penalty for Gryffindor, Cedric to shout at his own teams beaters and taking the attention away from Harry.

It also took the attention away from the dementors, who were coming in closer and closer over the school grounds and over the Pitch.

Cass heard a splitting, screaming noise that made her feel physically unwell. Without warning she fell off her broom, sliding swiftly off and plummeting to the ground.

She was only about six meters from the floor but Harry was already plummeting from much further up and both were totally unconscious, only saved by Snape and Dumbledore's quick spells that stopped them from certain death.

Neither Harry not Cass were aware of the large shaggy dog animagus watching from a shadowy part of the grounds


	8. Chapter 8

Later on, in the Hospital Wing beside an unconscious Cass, Cedric patted Neville in the back 'you keep her safe, yeah? For me?' he nodded, not taking his eyes away from Cass. 'Neville...you really care about her don't you?'. Cedric wasn't really asking, frankly he already knew well enough.

He'd seen the way Neville looked at his little sister, it was more than a friendship.

Cass woke up slowly, looking around blearily 'where...what? What happened?'. Neville looked relieved and leant forward 'you fell off your broom- you and Harry both did. Cedric was screaming at Morgan about that foul bludger he hit you with so everyone was distracted. The dementors were following Harry back to the Pitch...you both fell'.

She nodded, still looking a little lost 'why did I fall?' he shrugged 'I don't know, sorry'. Cass glanced over at where Harry was also awake, speaking to Ron and Hermione fin his bed. 'Harry?' he turned over a little in his bed, an exhausted smile on his face. 'You look worse than I do'.

Her smile in response was weak and she didn't look that amused 'Harry...did you hear a screaming? A woman...?' his face drained of colour and he sat up a little 'yes'.

At that moment Madame Pomfrey came bustling in to give both of them a potion that sent them straight to sleep. Neville stayed next to Cass's bedside, Hermione and Ron noticing him gently tuck a strand of jet black hair behind her ear again.

The next morning Cedric visited the Hospital wing with Amos Diggory, who had taken a few hours off from work. Regardless of biology and regardless of the fact she was known as Dolan- she was a Diggory, and Amos was fiercely protective of his youngest child and only daughter.

He was also highly amused by the sleeping figure of Neville in a chair beside his daughters bed, glancing at his son with a wry smile 'do you think they'll ever actually work it out?' h was referring to the fact that Neville was hopelessly in love with Cass, and she probably had no idea.

As Amos kissed his sleeping daughter's cheek he was totally unaware that it would take Voldermort's return, his son's murder, and the painful public reveal if Cass's biological parents to finally bring the two together.

Cass stirred a little and turned over, eyes opening slightly and then fully as she realised who was there. 'Dad!' she sat up incredibly quickly and threw her arms around him, Amos surprised at how long she held him for.

Cedric smiled, looking at his watch 'I've got to get to class, I'll see you at lunch sis'. She smiled and he gently woke Neville up, walking with him out of the Wing.

The only other person in the whole Wing was Harry and he was fast asleep still, snoring gently. 'Your brother owled me last night and I told the Heasmaster I wanted to come and see my daughter, he was very accomodating'. Cass smiled 'I'm glad your here...this term has been awful'.

Amos twisted his mouth 'yes, well we've so far received three owls about your behaviour, honey that's more than Molly Weasley's had...your mother has not been happy, she was going to send a howler but thankfully I talked her out of it'.

Cass managed a slight smirk 'I've...I don't know what's been going on, I've been such a mess Dad. I mean I've been in trouble before- loads of times. This is different, I just can't stand authority and it's like everything is falling apart'.

Amos looked over his daughters pained face as Lupin and McGonnagal entered the Hospital Wing, smiled on their faces. Lupin nodded 'Amos. You should know Cass is in good hands' he smiled at the younger man 'oh I know, it's my job to worry though'. Both the teachers laughed and glanced over at Harry, who was still snoring.

'We came to check up on you but it looks like Potter is back to normal'. Cass flattered for a second 'professors? Can I ask you something? When it's just us here?' they both nodded and Amos looked curious.

'When the Dementors get near me, on the train and Wednesday...I hear a screaming, it's horrible'. Lupin perched himself on the edge of the bed 'the dementors make us relive our worst memories Cass'.

She shook her head 'I've never experienced it...Harry can hear his mother when... you know...that's what he can hear. I've never experienced this'.

McGonnaghal leant against the end of the bed 'you may have been too young to remember, Harry was only a year old'.

Cass flashed her eyes at her teachers 'you don't understand- I have never experienced this. I was left at St Mungo's steps when I was less than a day old, after that I was with various families before the Diggories, no one would have been going through that kind of torture'.

Lupin glanced at Amos and McGonnagal with shock and Cass continued 'what I can hear...I physically couldn't have been there'. Amos shifted slightly in his seat 'how can you be so sure?'. Cass glanced down at he blanket, picking at a hem 'because it happened a few days before I was born'.

Everyone was looking at her in stunned silence 'what do you hear? Cass?'. She glanced up at the concerned adults around her 'It's Alice Longbottom, and she's begging for her son to be saved. Neville was in the house when Alice and Frank were being tortured'.

Everyone was in a stunned silence and Cass muttered 'how can the Dementors make me hear something I wasn't even alive for?'.

As she said it, Cass knew the answer. It had taken three weeks to capture the Death Eaters who had tortured the Longbottom's...she had been born two days after it had happened.

That was more than enough time to leave a small child on the steps of St Mungo's if you knew you were being hunted...

* * *

_I know that the Longbottoms were attacked when Harry and Neville were about a year old and that would make Cass a year below but for the sake of this story, the longbottoms were attacked when Neville was very young, an Cass's birthday is later in the year._


	9. Chapter 9

In the next few days both Cass and Harry were released from the Hospital Wing and back into normal school life. Unfortunately with the days off in the Wing, they had insane amounts of work to catch up on.

The teachers knew that Harry would have Hermione to help him and knew that he would easily catch back up. It was a few days later when everyone was in the Great Hall during a study period that Cedric came in and sat with Cass, slowly and methodically helping her through all the work that she had missed.

It was sweet to see really; he would do anything for his little sister.

After a few days back in normal classes Lupin asked Harry and Cass to stay behind at the end of one of his classes.

'Both of you have struggled with the Dementors presence around the castle, Harry asked me to teach him how to defend himself...Cass I assumed you'd want to do the same?'.

She nodded and he smiled 'tonight after dinner? In my classroom?' they both agreed and started walking together towards the great hall for dinner.

Harry had his hands in his pockets 'so...Cedric apparently went mental at his teams beaters for hurting you' she smirked 'yeah, the Twins told me, apparently it was quite a sight to see'. Harry laughed 'well I heard Neville had a go at Jones the other day as well, Ron told me it was pretty intense'.

Cass looked surprised 'he did? Bloody hell'. Harry raised an eyebrow 'you're surprised?' Cass said nothing and Harry smirked 'anyway. Have you seen that Lucius Malfoy is hanging around? He was up in Dumbledore's office all evening'.

Cass's eyes flashed darkly 'Malfoy's here? The slimy git' Harry couldn't help but smile at this 'I reckon you hate him more than he hates me'. Cass laughed and they kept walking down to the Great Hall for dinner, both remembering the last time Cass had come face to face with Lucius Malfoy.

It was in their second year when Malfoy had come in to the school, pretending that giving Ginny Tom Riddle's diary had been an accident. Harry had 'accidentally' given Dobby a sock via Malfoy and then the livid man had practically run straight into Cass in a corridor.

And Cass had been incredibly annoyed that Lucius had caused Ginny so much pain and the pair had engaged in an incredible shouting match before both had ended up raising their wands.

Thankfully Snape had heard the argument and had stopped it before anyone cursed the other.

After dinner Harry and Cass went back to Lupin's classroom and listened to him explain for a few minutes as he explained about patronus's and dementors.

Lupin stood up with a smile, 'right, well, both of you summon a memory that calms you and makes you happy, then cast the spell. It's 'expecto patronus', go ahead'.

Both of them took a second before casting the spells. Out of Harry's wand came a pale grey wisp and Lupin smiled broadly

'well done Harry, that's very good for your first attempt! Cass?'.

Cass though of the time when she was eleven and she had received her Hogwarts letter. Whilst she knew she was going to get it after performing 'accidental magic' since a very young age. It was the celebration that Cedric and her parents had decided to throw that night.

Both sets of her grandparents had come over, the Diggory family had come together en masse to celebrate their youngest getting into Hogwarts, sitting round a huge bonfire in their field till late, everyone eating marshmallows and chocolate frogs.

Cass muttered the spell and out of her wand formed a silver, bold and fully formed leopard. The three of them were in shock as the spectral animal padded around the room before disappearing with a puff.

Lupin looked at her with shock 'well I've never-ever- seen anyone do that on their first attempt, not even Lilly Evans. Well, Cass, I must say I'm very impressed'.

She could see the confusion and curiosity on Lupin's face and excused herself quickly from the classroom, not really needing any further help from Lupin.

It was as Cass was heading back to the Gryffindor common room down a quiet corridor that she heard footsteps behind her.

Lucius Malfoy swept down the corridor behind Cass, grabbing her wrist tightly and turning her towards him. His voice was low and menacing

'Cassiopeia, I'd advise you to stop fraternising with people like Potter, the Weasley and the mud blood girl-' at his abuse of Hermione, Cass tried to wrench her arm out of Lucius's grip but he tightened his hand.

'And if I was you I would definitely stay as far away from Neville Longbottom from now on'. Cass managed to pull her arm away from his vice like grip, her voice full of venom 'what's it to you?'.

Lucius sneered, voice soft and cold 'because incase you've forgotten, your mother is my wife's sister. You are my niece, regardless of what idiots you choose as your friends. How will you explain to Longbottom that YOUR parents are the ones who tortured his to insanity?'.

Cass was blown back by his comments, knowing in her heart that Lucius Malfoy was right.

How would Neville take the news that his best friend was the child of the people who had tortured his parents for hours until they had lost their minds, leaving him essentially orphaned.

* * *

_please Review etc x _


	10. Chapter 10

Seren and Amos Diggory had had the last straw with Cass's persistent detentions and the two owls they'd received from the school warning her about her persistently bad behaviour.

Seren was the most angry, sending an exceptionally angry stream of letters to her youngest child, which even the Weasley Twins had been impressed by, Molly Weasley rarely got THAT annoyed with them.

The long and the short of it was that neither Seren nor Amos had actually granted permission for Cass to go to Hogsmeade. They'd held the signed consent form random to her good behaviour over the first few weeks of term. Seeing as she'd hexed Crabbe and Goyle only a few weeks before, they had yet to send her the forms.

Harry was looking glum at breakfast on Saturday morning and sat next to Cass, who had her head rested on her crossed arms, looking moody. 'Cass, have your parents sent the forms up?'. She gave Harry an unimpressed look

'what do you think? McGonnagal told them about Crabbe and Goyle. To be fair Dad found it pretty funny, the annoying thing with having a mum who's a healer is that she spent three pages of parchment telling me how badly wrong my hexes could have gone. So no, looks like I'm hanging out here all day'.

The twins gave her a sympathetic look and Fred muttered under his breath into her ear 'the tunnels are always there'. Cass grinned devilishly and shrugged 'it's not like I can get in any MORE trouble is it?'.

Fred snorted loudly with laughter and Hermione looked up sharply 'what are you three planning? I don't think Cass can afford to get in any more trouble!'. Fred, George and Cass all rolled their eyes in unison, Hermione looking unimpressed.

A few hours later, Harry passed Cass on the stairs from the common room, muttering into his ear 'I'm sure if you wrap up warm in a cloak, you'll still have a good enough day'. Harry looked vacant 'what are you on about?'. She rolled her eyes 'use your head Potter'. After a second his mouth cracked into a smile, realising she meant the invisibility cloak in his trunk.

Cass had decided to leave when everyone was already out, to draw less suspicion to her absence. instead she decided to amble around the castle as everyone assembled in the snowy courtyard, heading out into another courtyard area, where no one was.

It was her and Neville's spot as far as she knew, they'd never seen anyone else out there but the ghosts. Neville had gone with the main group of the students so as not to attract attention.

She was sitting there watching the snow fall around her for ten minutes before she heard approaching footsteps and turned, seeing Snape.

'Uh, professor, what are you doing out here?'. Snape looked over the willowy girl with a raised eyebrow 'well there are certain herbs and flowers growing around this part of the castle that I need for potions, why are you not with the other over excitable third years in the main courtyard?'.

Cass shrugged 'Mum and Dad found out about all the detentions, let's just say they weren't impressed'.

Snape raised an eyebrow 'well I can hardly blame them. Inherently they only want to keep you in School, and Cedric is only trying to keep you safe from...well you know what I'm talking about'. Cass nodded, not wanting to discuss the topic any further.

Snape nodded slightly, his voice softening 'you need to keep ahead, you know how bad things could be about to get when everything comes to a head. Keep your head in place Cass'.

He simply nodded again and started to walk away, leaving her looking dazedly after him.

Inside, she was terrified. If Snape had taken the time to tell her to stay safe, she must be in even more danger than she had realised.


	11. Chapter 11

Cass was unsettled by what had happened with Snape but she knew Neville would worry about her if she didn't turn up in Hogsmeade.

She snuck out through one of the hidden passages and had wondered through the snowy village filled with students and teachers until she'd found her best friend.

Neville looked over Cass's pale face and knew immediately that something wasn't right. 'What's wrong? What happened?'. She sighed, glancing around to make sure that no one was looking 'Snape, he told me to watch my back'.

Neville's eyes widened 'what, he threatened you?'. She shook her head quickly, checking again wether anyone was listening 'no, in more of an 'a storms coming, watch your back' type of way'.

Neville raised an eyebrow 'is this about Sirius Black being out of Azkaban?'. Cass nodded and Neville sighed

'you don't want me to know the details on why do you? I can see it in your eyes'. Cass nodded slowly 'I don't want to talk about it...is that okay?'.

Neville smiled, pushing the thoughts from his mind and grinned at Cass 'yeah, for now. We should get moving before Cedric sees you out here'. She laughed and they started walking towards a set of shops, linking arms and talking about anything but Sirius Black.

Harry had hidden under his invisibility cloak and was now sat hidden under the table beside the minister for magic, Madame Rosmerta and a handful of teachers.

He was somewhat regretting the decision but as he listened he felt sick to his stomach

'...well obviously Sirius Black and James Potter were basically joined at the hip, some of the best friends I've ever seen'.

There was a murmuring of agreement 'they were such sweet boys, and Lilly calmed them both down- so did Remus Lupin frankly'. Harry heard glasses being moved around, his face drained of colour.

'hmmm. And then Sirius betrayed Lilly and James to you-know-who...and then he killed Peter Pettigrew, he caused the deaths of his two best friends'.

The minister murmured in agreement 'horrible business, all that. Of course Sirius never had a chance did he? I mean, the Black family have produced some of the worst dark wizards in history. You remember Regulus, Sirius's brother? He was pretty close with you know who... He died not long before the Potters- just disappeared off the face of the earth. I don't even know who knows about Cass's parentage at the moment...it's already coming out'.

Professor Sprout sighed 'I think we should get off of this topic, it's very grim isn't it. I think we should change the subject and get some more drinks'.

Most of the people around the table stood up to get more drinks, only McGonnagal and the minister were left at the table and Harry sat there stock still. 'Minerva?' the ministers voice was low

'Minerva I'm worried about how Cass Dolan will take it when it inevitably comes out a out her parentage...with all this scrutiny and media attention on the Black family, there's no way it's going to stay under wraps forever'.

McGonnagal sighed 'I just hope that she manages to keep her head up, and Neville doesn't reject her when he finds out- it'll either rip them apart or keep them together...would you be able to see past the fact that someone's parents had tortured your own?' the minister didn't say anything but Harry was pretty sure that the man had shook his head, and he inherently agreed.

Harry felt sick, his mind reeling. Not only had Sirius Black been the one who had caused his parents death- he now also knew that Lupin was a friend of both his parents and Sirius Black himself. It was also making him feel queasy to now know how bad the Black family were.

It seemed like people from the Black family had no chance at happiness and to stay on the good side. Harry sincerely hoped that Cass would be an exception.

* * *

_So, polling here- who would you want as Cass's mother/father:_

_Bellatrix and Rudoluphus Lestrange_

_Bellatrix and someone else_

_Sirius Black_

_Regulus Black_

_Anyone else you can think of :)_

_Please Review etc :) x_


	12. Chapter 12

Cass was walking down the main street of shops with Neville when she hear her name being called from behind. Begrudgingly she turned around, knowing that she would see Cedric there.

He had a look of confusion in his face 'I-I swear Mum and Dad didn't send off the forms? I thought you had to stay in the castle?' Cass swallowed and quickly thought for an excuse but Cedric rolled his eyes 'they didn't did they, you snuck out?'. She shrugged apologetically and Cedric sighed 'I'm not even that annoyed- frankly I'm impressed'.

Cass's face broke into a smile 'you won't tell Mum?' Cedric rolled his eyes 'of course not, now just make sure you stay out of McGonnagal's way or you'll be in weeks of detention again'.

Neville and Cass had a brilliant day wandering the little village, they walked back later covered in snow and with several bags of sweets and anything else they'd managed to find in the shops.

As they were walking back up to the castle, the twins, Seamus, Lee and Dean joined them, all looking freezing under the layer of snow on all their clothes. 'So, did Cedric find you out?'. She shook her head 'he was fine with it, actually he seemed quite impressed that I'd got away with it'. The group continued laughingly up to the steep hill back towards the Castle.

Cass passed Draco in the courtyard, the pair exchanging ice cold glares before stalking off in other directions.

The group were heading up to the Gryffindor common room when Harry came down the stairs towards them, looking pale and his voice curt 'Cass, I need to talk to you'. She was surprised but nodded, following him back down the stairs.

The two of them stood out in the snow, hands in their pockets as they looked out over the frozen lake. Harry slowly reiterated to her the conversation he'd overheard in the pub earlier, right down to every detail.

'Sirius Black betrayed my parents to You Know Who, he's the reason they're dead. Sirius also killed a guy called Peter Pettigrew, apparently my Dad, Sirius, Pettigrew and Lupin were friends back at school'. Cass snapped her head up quickly 'what? Lupin?'.

Harry simply nodded and and Cass exhaled deeply 'bloody hell...no wonder he's been keeping an eye on you'.

Harry agreed, and the pair started trudging back up to the castle, shivering as they did. Cass's senses made a shiver run down her spine and she turned around suddenly.

On the pristine white snow she couldn't see anything, but after a second she noted a huge shaggy dog under a tree a way off. She turned around 'Harry-'. As he looked back at Cass, she noticed that the dog had disappeared 'never mind, I must have imagined it'.

Harry didn't ask any further and they continued walking back up to the castle.

Cass was assuming she had imagined an image of the grim, after the ridiculous tea leaves lesson with Trelawney the other week.

Of course, if they knew who the black dog was, Cass and Harry wouldn't have been laughing and joking as they went through the big oak doors.

* * *

_So, polling here- who would you want as Cass's mother/father:_

_Bellatrix and Rudoluphus Lestrange_

_Bellatrix and someone else_

_Sirius Black and someone else_

_Regulus Black _

_Anyone else you can think of :)_

_Please Review etc :) x_


	13. Chapter 13

At Breakfast everyone looked up and saw Oliver Wood standing over them, cheeks puffed out and looking uncomfortable.

'So...Hufflepuff match is next Friday.'  
Cass shook her head and swung her legs over the bench, toast in hand.

'Oliver forget about it, I'm not asking my brother for tactics or information about their team okay?'

'But-'. She picked up her bag from the bench 'Trust me, I would, but there's no way in hell Cedric going to tell me, so there's no point. Anyway, I have to go and meet Neville in the library, something about the potions essay'.

She nodded at Ron. 'Have you finished yours?'. 'Well...sort of- I just spaced everything out so it looks longer'. She laughed and walked out of the Great Hall.

Harry was definitely in Snape's bad books, after what had happened in the corridors of the castle a few nights before. Snape clearly felt that Lupin had undermined him, and blamed Harry for it essentially; though frankly Snape took any chance to belittle Harry.

Harry had told Cass the details about what had happened, including seeing Peter Pettigrew on the marauders map, all of this affected her as well, and he knew she wanted any news possible.

On the Tuesday afternoon Potions double period, Cass was about three seconds late coming through the door.

Of course, Snape had noticed immediately, not even looking up from his desk.

'Miss Dolan, you'll be assisting Mr Malfoy in today's lesson'. Cass looked livid 'I'm not helping that jumped up little shi-'.

Snape cut her off sharply 'if I was you I'd stop that sentence right there unless you want another weeks worth of detentions'. She scowled 'but his arm is fine!'. Snape looked up with exasperation in his eyes 'Dolan, sit down, help Malfoy, do your work, for Merlin's sake!'.

She glanced over at where Malfoy was sitting on a small table, arm in a sling and looking smug. Cass traipsed over to the table and sat heavily down, looking with utter disgust at Malfoy, thankful they were the table at the back and not right under Snape's nose.

'Alright Cass? I need you to chop the roots...I can't do it myself, what with my arm and all that'. Cass barely hid her noise of disgust and begun chopping garlic pretty quickly.

'Dolan, you're doing it wrong, it looks like you're mutilating them'. The look she gave him told him to keep his mouth shut as he smirked.

After another few minutes Draco stretched lazily 'god, it really does make this easier when you've got someone else to help you out'. Cass's response was biting 'I thought you'd be used to having people do stuff for you, little prince Malfoy'.

The blonde simply smirked back at her 'well, as my cousin I think you're more than entitled to the benefits of being a Malfoy'. If he thought this was going to be funny, Malfoy was sorely wrong.

Cass's eyes darkened an she pulled her wand out, jabbing it into Draco's ribs and pulling him closer by the scruff of his robes, her voice barely above a furious hiss.

'If you think this is funny Malfoy then you you're wrong. I'd rather be dead than people know we're family. If you tell **_*anyone*_** about this I'll curse you so badly you'll be carrying your-'.

Snape's voice cut her off 'Miss Dolan, could you please stop threatening members of my house with your wand- get back to your work'.

The entire class looked around quickly at the back of the classroom, Cass was still holding Draco's robes tightly, her wand poking into his ribs.

She dropped both her hands quickly and looked innocent 'yes, Professor, we're nearly finished'.

She met eyes with Neville and knew what he was asking her silently and she hook her head, looking back at both the potions as the class went back to their work.

Draco muttered under his breath 'I was joking, alright, I won't say anything. If it all comes out, it's not my fault'. Cass met Draco's eyes and knew that for once, the blonde boy was actually telling the truth.

Neville and Cass had been sitting in front of the fire in the common room, wrapped in blankets and leaning against the red sofa, sitting on the floor.

Neville had been out at the greenhouses doing some work for his Herbology essay, and Cass had been doing one on one training with Oliver for a few hours after dinner, and they had both returned at the same time.

The snow had clearly been coming down thick, as both were freezing cold and soaked, quickly showering, changing and coming back downstairs.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George were sitting around a little way off, some of them doing homework. George nudged Fred and he looked over, smiling slightly and Ron followed their gaze.

Neville had his arm around her and she was curled into him, fast asleep. The others all looked over and saw it too, grinning to themselves.

George shook his head 'I wish he'd just hurry up and ask her out'. Ron snorted with laughter 'Mate, this is Neville we're talking about, he'll probably never tell her'. George shrugged and continued to read through his work.


	14. Chapter 14

_Enjoy x_

* * *

To say that Cass had been going around the school in a terrible mood was probably an understatement; she'd even managed to get herself a detention with Lupin, the only one so far of the year he'd given out.

She was also very clearly not impressed by everyone's attempts to cheer her up, though they were clearly unaware of what the issue was.

It was at the end of the week before Christmas that Cass made her way begrudgingly down to Lupin's classroom after dinner on the Thursday night, slamming the door behind her.

Lupin raised an eyebrow 'And what exactly Cass, has my door done to deserve to be thrown around?'.

She threw herself into a seat and scowled out the window, watching the snow fall against it

'What do you want me to do? I just want to get out of here and start packing'.

Lupin smiled, sitting at his desk and pulling out a book, looking at her in slight amusement 'are you packing to go home for the Christmas holidays?'.

She nodded 'mhmm, going home to inevitably end up getting in just as much trouble. Can't wait'.

Her voice was dryly sarcastic and Lupin started taking notes from a book as he spoke

'Cass, what you've got to understand is that I'm lenient compared to most people. You are lucky because of how smart and powerful you are as a witch. The very fact that you misbehave so much and on such a scale is frankly holding you back. If you didn't act out so much, then I wouldn't be surprised if you came out at the top of the class, above Hermione Granger probably as well'.

Cass exhaled deeply and tapped the table lightly, Lupin continuing 'you've got potential and a whole world of possibilities ahead of you Cass, why do you constantly fight against me and everyone else?'.

She was silent for a long time before looking up at him, eyes sad.

'Can you keep a secret, Professor Lupin?'.

Slowly he put his quill down, looking over at the younger girl 'Yes, of course…'

Lupin was equally as intrigued by what she as going to say as he was wishing he'd simply asked her to write lines.

He knew from her expression at the terrible way she'd been behaving recently that there was no chance this was only a small matter.

'I read a book in the restricted section about this thing…you can, um…uh…impart magic into other people...it said it's painful to the person who gives the magic...but it also acts as a protection to the person they give it to'.

Lupin's eyes were wide as he watched her for several minutes before he finally spoke

'Yes, how did you get a book out of the restricted section, can I ask that first?'.

Cass shrugged 'that's really not the important question at the moment is it?'.

'Fine, I'll pretend you were allowed to read the book in the first place. Yes it is possible to impart magic. It's a difficult and quite painful task to do, which is why it's not exactly popular- I've never heard of one being done. It's old magic, ancient magic even. In the end the recipient is generally stronger and more powerful magically than everyone else; the other thing that happens is the recipient is given a form of protection charm, and that stays with them. Unlike the spell that Lilly Potter placed on Harry, this charm won't wear off, the recipient will constantly be somewhat protected from harm'.

Cass was nodding slowly, though she looked pale and almost like she needed to vomit

'Did you hear about the Basilisk…last year?'.

Lupin nodded 'of course…why?'.

Cass was shaking slightly, looking like she was trying to supress the rising tide of nausea inside her

'I could hear it…I can speak parseltongue, Professor...that's not…it only ever attacked when I was out of the castle…I was never anywhere near it. Quirrel in the first year, he never came anywhere near me…I've fallen off my broom a million times, and never hurt myself, Cedric has fallen from half the height and ended up in St Mungo's…'.

Lupin attempted to fill the gap 'you might have just been lucky'.

Cass rolled her eyes, laughing sarcastically 'My mother is a Healer, Professor, she's said it herself that I must have had someone 'looking over me'…and now I know who…'.

Lupin frowned, his voice quiet '…who?'

'My parents were Death Eaters, I think most people know that-'

Lupin nodded slightly and she continued

'the only explanation is that Lord Voldermort imparted magic to me when I was a baby, before I was abandoned at St Mungo's...I have dreams all the time...about snakes, it's Nagini isn't it…my boggart…and the voice…the voice was him too wasn't it'.

Lupin simply blinked, at a loss of what to say.

* * *

_Let me know what you think, Reviews are always appreciated. _

_Let me know who you think the parents should be too._

_:) _

_x_


	15. Chapter 15

_Enjoy x_

* * *

When Cass came back to the Gryffindor Common room she was clearly deep in thought, sitting in a chair by the fire and staring into it thoughtfully.

The twins saw her and came to sit with her 'So, how was detention with Lupin?'.

She shrugged 'well he didn't make me do lines or clean anything so I can't really complain'.

Fred glanced at George quickly 'uh, Cass, we spoke to Cedric today…he's worried about you'. She looked up 'and why is that exactly?'.

'Because you've managed to rack up even more detentions in the last two months than we got in the whole of last term.

I would be impressed but it's not exactly a good thing…you're smart Cass, you need to actually do some work rather than mess about all the time'.

Cass looked genuinely shocked 'I'm sorry, but are **_you two_** telling me my behaviour is bad? Jesus Christ, hypocrites much?'.

George sighed, sitting back in his chair 'I'm just saying, you're lucky you're smart, or else you'd probably be thrown out before the end of the year'.

Cass narrowed her eyes slightly 'yes, well, I've got some packing to do so I'll see you both tomorrow'.

She stood up and abruptly left the busy common room, the twins looking at each other with raised eyebrows.

Cass barely slept that night, thinking constantly, her mind a tangled mess. She also felt physically sick thinking about her boggarts form and the basilisk voice echoing through her head the previous year.

She was the first person at breakfast the next day, head in a book and writing notes furiously, not even noticing everyone coming in half an hour later.

Cedric stuck his head over her shoulder, eyebrows raised in curiosity 'Aaaah, potions essay?'.

She glanced up in surprise 'yeah, it's in till January but I'm not going to get any time over Christmas am I? I've already done my one for Lupin'.

Cedric kissed her hair gently and muttered into her ear 'good, I'm proud of you' before moving off to his own House table.

Cass looked surprised and Neville sat down next to her, reaching immediately for some food 'morning, are you already on Snape's essay?'. She nodded, accepting the pumpkin juice he handed her

'My parents have planned us a busy few weeks off. We're seeing what seems like every single Diggory family member, and Dad is taking me and Cedric to get new brooms, and you know what he's like, it'll take a whole day'.

Neville laughed and glanced at her notes, realising he didn't understand any of them.

Cass managed to go through the whole day without getting to trouble or getting a detention, which made a nice change from the last few weeks.

Lupin acted as though the conversation the evening before hadn't happened, whilst Cass kept her head down and kept quiet, writing notes in silence.

When the final bell went at midday - when they would finish for the term- the whole school erupted into cheers and a stampede of feet as every student began to celebrate the start of the Christmas holidays.

Two hours later, the Hogwarts Express was whizzing on its way back towards London.

Cass was sat with Neville, Dean, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati and Padma in a carriage on their way home.

She didn't want to be forced to discuss Sirius Black's escape, what he might be doing and why, or frankly anything to do with him. She just wanted to sit back and be able to relax for the first time in weeks.

Seren and Amos Diggory were waiting for their two children on the platform, hugging them both tightly. It seemed that Seren was in a much better mood about her daughter's recent spate of bad behaviour, hugging her tightly.

Amos and Cedric looked at each other with amusement, gathering up the bags and trunks as the two female Diggory's started to walk down the platform deep in conversation.

The Diggory house wasn't far from the Lovegood's or the Weasley's, though they lived further into the town of Ottery St Catchpole, a small Devon town that had roughly half wizards and half muggles.

It was a large cottage-style house that had a complex set of twisting and winding corridors (made by magic of course) and Cass's room was at the back of the house, with the view of the meadow and the stream.

Her large room had blue walls covered with a large Irish Quidditch flag and the English one on the opposite wall. Her bed was large and the rest of the walls were covered in pictures and tickets.

Cass looked around the room and looked at the pictures, showing her life in a series of moving images.

She laughed at the one of her and Cedric at a Quidditch national's final game when she was nine, her brother holding an arm around her, a huge grin on his face.

Cass however, had a dark, surly look on her face, pulling away from her brother- Cedric's team had beaten Cass's at the last minute.

She smiled and curled up into bed.

The next morning Cass woke up to a large brown owl tapping at her window, seeing that it had a newspaper attached to its leg and got out of bed, letting it in and giving it a treat.

Cass removed the newspaper and looked at the headline '_Sirius Black sighted in St Shaw?'._

She felt her heart skip a beat in both shock and fear. St Shaw was a town less than fifteen minutes away from Ottery St Catchpole.

Five seconds later she heard a knock at her bedroom door and turned to see Cedric standing there, a copy of the Prophet in hand and a grim expression on his face.

'You saw it?'. She nodded and he swallowed, looking at the headline again 'You think he's found you?'.

Cass nodded slowly, looking physically sick and terrified at the idea of Sirius Black hunting her down like he was hunting for Harry.

* * *

_Let me know what you think and what you want to see._

_And obviously, as always, who do you think the parent/s are?_

_x_


	16. Chapter 16

_Enjoy x_

* * *

Cass and Cedric pretended everything was okay, sitting with their parents at breakfast as Amos spoke about the Sirius Black sighting until he became aware of his daughters pale face and clenched jaw.

'Cass, everything alright?'. She nodded, playing around with her miniature broomstick cereal which was chasing after a cranberry snitch in her wizards cereal.

'I just- I don't like talking about Black, it's all everyone is talking about at school'

Amos shrugged, satisfied with the response and Cedric glanced at his sister 'yeah, it's all you hear in the great hall'.

The siblings met eyes and Cass's expression was sending a clear message 'thank you'. He nodded and continued eating, hands clenched tightly around his spoon, looking worried.

Seren was by the sink, flicking her wand to move all the plates, mugs and glasses back into the cupboards, looking over at her daughter.

'So, Cass dear, how is Neville?'. She looks up with a frown

'Fine….why are you asking?'. Seren smirked slightly, trying in vain to hide the grin. 'No reason, just wondering how he was, you two are very close, that's all'.

Cass rolled her eyes 'Mum! For Merlin's sake, we're just friends! Why is everyone always going on about this? I'm friends with Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George- I'm friends with loads of other boys!'.

Seren simply smirked again 'yes dear, never mind. I saw Molly Weasley in the village earlier, she said Harry is staying with them, and you can go over today if you want, they're having a Quidditch game today'.

Cass nodded 'okay, I'll go over later'.

After breakfast Cass went to change and came down a while later and saw Cedric sitting at the end of the stairs, hands together under his chin, looking thoughtful.

'Cass, make sure you're safe today, alright? I know the Weasley's house isn't far but please, please, please make sure you get back alright. The sighting wasn't far from here, it might be bullshit but there's always a chance that he is around here. I'm not going to be happy if anything happens to you'.

Cass internally rolled her eyes but nodded 'yes, yes, I'll see you later. If I'm not back by six then send out the Aurors in a search party?'.

Cedric didn't see the funny side of the comment and Cass left for the Weasley house, walking across the meadow as she had multiple times over the summer, spending time with her friends.

She managed the fifteen minute walk without incident and spent two hours playing Quidditch with the Weasley family, playing as the chaser with Bill and Charlie.

Tired and exhausted, Cass left to head back home after the games, trudging through the muddy meadow, humming to herself and looking around at the unusually clear and bright day considering it was December.

Cass turned and saw the great expanse of gently moving grass in the enormous meadow.

Other than birds chirping and the distant sounds of the Weasley family still playing in their garden on the other side of the woods was the only thing that interrupted the otherwise silence of the area.

It was December admittedly, so the weather wasn't warm by any means, but Cass felt a chill come over her that wasn't anything to do with the weather.

She turned to her right quickly and saw a figure standing in the shadow of the enormous Oak tree a few metres away from her.

Cass recognized the person immediately, the black shaggy hair, tall, thin frame, tattooed chest and hands, and the unmistakably high cheekbones and the intense eyes of the Black family.

Sirius Black's face had been plastered all over Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and even the Wizarding areas of Ottery St Catchpole, his Wanted poster all over the wizarding world, the Daily Prophet was showing the face every single day.

Sirius met Cass's eyes and looked at her with an unreadable expression and simply nodded at her as she reached for her wand. Sirius didn't wait for her to hex or curse him, simply turning and jumping into the ditch behind the Oak tree, and disappearing.

Cass knew she should have run either back home or to the similar safety of the Weasley house, but for some reason she found her legs propelling herself towards the ditch, running as quickly as she could.

There was nothing there, he's disappeared Cass nearly slapped herself for her stupidity, he would have disapperated immediately.

As Cass stood there shaking in fear, she couldn't help but think how close she had come to one of the wizarding worlds most wanted murderers, the man who had killed his friend and betrayed the Potters, handing them over to Voldermort.

In the silence however, Cass also thought about what had happened. Sirius Black was a known murderer and everyone spoke about him like he was a murderous madman- however, he'd not raised his wand to Cass for even a second.

She had been completely vulnerable; he could have hexed or cursed her before she'd even turned around.

Did Sirius Black appear in the meadow to scare Cass, or was he aware that she was actually a Black family member too?

* * *

_Dun dun dun._

_Why is Sirius following Cass?_

_Does he know she's a Black, and who is she?_

_Please review and let me know what you think _


	17. Chapter 17

_Enjoy _

* * *

Cass told no one, she didn't know why. Sirius Black was the most wanted man in the wizarding world. He had caused Harry to become an orphan, he had killed one of his best friends too.

But she hadn't felt scared by the interaction, not at all. She didn't know why, but then he could easily have cursed, hexed or killed her if he had really wanted to.

She'd had her back to him for a while, he could have killed her and gotten away before she had even hit the ground.

So why hadn't he? She knew she should have been frightened and ran back home and told her Dad to contact the ministry, but she didn't. Instead, she walked home through the meadow, running her hand along the tall grass.

Back at the house Cedric was helping their mother put away some things from Diagon Alley in the kitchen. He looked up, intently looking at his sister 'everything okay?'

She nodded with a smile, seamlessly lying and helping put things away.

The rest of the Christmas holidays passed without incident, Cass didn't see Sirius again and didn't feel the feeling on the back of her neck of anyone watching her.

Amos and his wife seemed to have pulled out all the stops to give their children a brilliant Christmas, though of course they didn't know that they would only have one more Christmas with their son before he was killed.

A few weeks later, Cedric and Cass were back on the Hogwarts Express, sitting with their friends at opposite ends of the train.

Cass sat with Neville and some other people from their year, though her and Neville were focussed on each other, talking intently for the whole journey. They had been nearly inseparable since they were eleven years old, and three weeks apart seemed strange.

Cass managed two weeks without a detention, it was about twenty minutes after dinner had ended and Cass found herself running down the dungeon corridor.

Cass ran after Snape 'Professor, professor, can I ask you something?'. He blinked, looking surprised and looking around at the otherwise nearly empty corridor.

'You know, uh…you know how someone can um…'impart' magic to someone, like a baby or something?'. Snape raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued 'I am aware, yes, and what are you asking me exactly?'.

She swallowed, looking around the corridor 'Can we do this somewhere more…private, please? It's important'.

Snape obviously saw the expression in her eyes as he waved his hand to open the door behind her, which was the potions classroom. It was empty and Cass sat against one of the tables as Snape looked at her intently. 'Professor…you know who my mother is don't you?'.

He looked surprised but eventually nodded, looking uncomfortable 'yes, I do'. She nodded slightly 'I can tell from the way you treat me…I think someone imparted magic in me as a child… before I was abandoned, uh, I think it explains as lot'.

Snape cocked his head to one side in question and Cass continued 'I can do things that people twice my age find hard…I mastered a patronus on my first try…and there's something else Professor—I think someone placed a protection charm on me'. Snape raised his eyebrows but said nothing, letting her continue.

'I…whenever there is danger around, I'm never there. The basilisk never attacked when I was in the castle, I had freak accidents hours before they happened. Quirrell couldn't be close to me, I've fallen sixty feet off my broom before and I walked away with barely a scratch…someone is looking out for me aren't they Professor?'

Snape was watching her closely 'I can't say for sure, but I'd say you're probably correct. Why are you asking me this?'. She shrugged, looking distant 'I just…I needed to know I wasn't crazy'.

Snape nodded reassuringly 'well, I think you should head back to the Gryffindor common room, curfew begins soon'

She nodded, muttering an awkward 'thanks' as she left the room, heading back towards the main entrance, intending to head up the steps to the common room. As she reached the main entrance, Cass saw the Patil twins, who smiled at her

'Hi Cass, where are Harry, Ron and Hermione going, it's curfew soon?'.

She frowned 'what? Where have they gone?'.

'We saw them heading out the main entrance'.

She nodded, hurrying out where she knew they would be. It was buckbeak's execution this evening, and she knew they would want to see Hagrid.

Cass slipped through the front doors and saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle standing in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione, an argument beginning.

She saw the moment that she would never ever forget. Malfoy spat at Hermione 'you filthy little mudblood!'. Cass couldn't hear what was said back but saw the punch that she gave the blonde and found herself gaping in amazement, even as Goyle and Crabbe ran past her.

Draco was a few seconds later and found himself pushed up against the stone wall, a wand jabbed into his side 'don't you ever call her that again Malfoy, do you hear me?'.

He looked around quickly, seeing with a sinking feeling that they were alone in the little atrium area

'Now, Malfoy, listen to me closely. You will **_never_** call Hermione that word again, and you can do the whole 'my father will hear about this' thing, but we're family, and not even a Malfoy is going to snitch on family are they?'.

He looked even paler than usual and nodded awkwardly as Cass released him and lowered her wand.

'Now go, your little minions will be waiting'. Without a backwards glance or even a sneer, Draco hurried back into the castle.

Cass smirked to herself and went out into the grounds, vaguely able to see that her friends had made it inside Hagrid's hut. She was about to set off and follow them but she was stopped by the movement in the trees just behind the hut. Cass had good eyesight but it was the clothes that gave it away.

It was Harry and Hermione- again. One set in the cabin with Ron, and one set in the trees.

Cass was about to follow either one of the sets of Hermione and Harry but felt a wave of nausea come over her, making her head spin and her eyes lose focus. She knew what was happening and made her way quickly up to the Hospital Wing. Madame Porfrey was becoming used to these strange afflictions to the teenager, giving her a calming draught and a warm drink, telling her to rest.

She was alone in the wing and left to her own thoughts, trying to work out what the hell was going on. Cass curled up on her side, trying to get some sleep. After a few minutes, she realised it was a fruitless task and stood up, checking Madame Pomfrey wasn't around and pulled on her coat again.

When she returned an hour later, it was dark outside, Ron was half asleep in his bed, and she felt content.

As Harry and Hermione barrelled into the Hospital Wing an hour later, Cass only half glanced up from her book 'I see your time turner works then Hermione'.

All three of them stilled, not knowing what to say 'Uh...what?'. She smirked 'It's okay, I'm not going to say anything am I, for Merlin's sale'.  
'But...how did you know?'.

'After Malfoy ran off after your incredible punch I followed him and gave him a few choice words of my own when Crabbe and Goyle ran off...I came back down to where I'd seen you head off as saw two versions of you, one moving in the woods and the other behind the pumpkins. Dad taught me all about time turners over Christmas, fascinating stuff really. I knew that had to be the reason and it had to explain how you had managed to attend so many classes this year'.

Harry looked impressed 'But if we were trying to stop Sirius Black from getting the Dementors kiss...why would you not try and keep history as it was...surely you wouldn't understand?'.

Cass smiled slightly, reaching into her bag and pulling out the invisibility cloak

'I, ah, borrowed this from you Harry and I snuck into Snape's office as he was looking at the map. I had to know if there was a reason you were letting one of the worst Dark Wizards of our time free, a man who caused your parents deaths. But of course, I saw what Snape saw too- Peter Pettigrew's name running around. And I knew, I knew immediately, right then and there that we had been wrong, he was never the bad guy at all, was he? And that's why he tried to see me when I was home over Christmas...because I am the only other non-death eater in that whole bloody family'.

* * *

_Please review and let me know what you think._

_Who are we thinking for parents:_

_Sirius Black_

_Regulus Black_

_Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange_

_Bellatrix and someone else (Snape even?)_

_Snape_

_Barty Crouch (Jr. Of course)_

_let me know _


	18. Chapter 18

Sorry it's been a while

Enjoy x

Cass was sitting by the stream at the end of the meadow, staring vacantly into the running water.

It was summer, the holidays hadn't been on for long but she was already bored, not knowing what to do with herself.

Cho Chang was over with Cedric and they'd gone out somewhere, whilst her mother was at work in St Mungo's all day and she was waiting for her father to come home early from the Ministry.

Amos wanted to spend time with his daughter, who was being awkward and reserved since the events of the end of her third year at Hogwarts.

Amos knew that she'd also been involved in yet another argument with Draco Malfoy but he hadn't found out any details.

He clocked off early from work and came home with their family friends Kingsley Shaklebolt and Auror Alex Perkiss, both of whom were godparents to Cedric and Cass.

Kingsley went out to the meadow to find Cass and leant against the tree beside her.

'What's wrong?'. She looked up in surprise 'Oh...Kingsley...I didn't even know you were here. Um...I'll tell you another time? I don't think I wanna talk about it really'.

He nodded and they started to walk back towards the Diggory house, talking as they went.

'So, how is the Auror department, I'll assume Rufus Scruigmore isn't thrilled with any of you?'. He laughed lightly

'well, Sirius Black wasn't exactly supposed to disappear on a Hippogriff. Rufus hasn't taken the news well, we've all had a good talking to'.

Cass laughed as she saw Amos just outside the backdoor 'Ah Cass, there you are- what are you two talking about?'.

She smiled dryly at her Dad 'Buckbeak, the Hippogriff that YOUR department had consigned to death'.

Amos rolled his eyes 'yes dear, you should know we didn't actually approve it, Malfoy went over our head and practically forced my boss to okay it. Come on, lunch is ready'.

Alex greeted Cass as she came in and they all sat down to eat, talking about Hogwarts and their work. Cass looked at Alex 'so, who's going to be our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year?'.

He shrugged, attempting to look innocent 'I'm pretty sure I'm not meant to tell you Cass, I'm not even meant to know myself to be honest'.

She raised an eyebrow and poured a glass of juice 'well, there are no rules to say you can't, are there? Anyway, who cares- they'll only be there a year'.

Alex glanced at Kingsley and Amos, who both begrudgingly nodded 'fine. It's Alistor Moody'.

Cass found her mouth dropping 'Mad Eye Moody? As in the mental Auror who put away a shit load of death eaters?'.

Amos frowned, passing his daughter some salad 'Watch your language Cass. But yes, he's the famous Auror, I can't think of anyone better to teach you defence against the dark arts to be honest'.

Kingsley nodded 'well, he's seen it all hasn't he. He took down Barty Crouch Jr and the Lestrange's all by himself didn't he'.

Cass found her voice was small and quiet 'was that after they tortured the Longbottoms?'.

All three men looked at her with sad eyes, all of them had known either Frank or Alice and they all knew that Neville was Cass's best friend.

'Yes, horrible business that was... Poor couple... Yes, it was right after all that had happened, Mad Eye took them all in himself. Barty Jr took half of Moody's nose with him. They escaped that time but were captured properly about five weeks later'.

Alex smirked 'and Moody hexed Rudulphus Lestrange 'just right' about a year before as he told me- let's just say there's no way Rudolphus Is making any little death eaters after that lets put it that way. Not that Bellatrix was too upset, she'd been having affairs for years, even the Aurors knew'

Cass blinked in surprise 'so...Rudolphus and Bellatrix don't have any kids?'.

Kingsley looked at her with an intrigued expression 'well, not since the Longbottom incident no...'

Two hours later Harry opened the note attached to the owl that had flown into his room in Privet Drive as he gave it a small treat and watched it fly away.

'Go for a walk- I need to talk to you- urgent. Cass'.

Harry glanced out of his window with confusion and saw Cass sitting there absently on the bench a few metres down the street.

With a sigh, Harry put his jacket on and swiftly left the house, the Dursley's were out for lunch and had left him alone in the house.

He walked down towards her 'Cass? What's up?'.

He knew it must have been important for her to come all the way to him, though chances are he took a floo at least half the way.

'I needed to tell someone...I didn't know who else to tell... I heard something about uh...when the Auror's tried to take in the Lestrange's when You Know Who was at his peak... He attacked Rudolphus Lestrange...they said there was no way he could have had children'.

Harry did a double take 'You what?'. Cass shrugged

'Yeah... They said she'd had affairs for years... Bellatrix might be my mother, but Rudolphus isn't my father'.

Harry looked at her with wide eyes, shock and amazement 'So...oh my god'.

Cass nodded, and Harry could see the turmoil in his friends eyes.

Not only was her mother a murderous Death Eater who had dropped her on the steps of St Mungo's as a baby, but she had no clue who her father was anymore.

On the other side of the country Severus Snape sat filing away some papers when he received a knock at the door.

He opened it and blinked with evident surprise. 'Lupin... What are you doing here?'.

The ex Gryffindor looked tired and peaky 'I needed to know, Severus'.

Snape looked confused 'know what?'

'Firstly, was it you that told the board about my 'condition'?'. Snape paused for a moment 'they asked me if you were a werewolf and I didn't lie, but no- I wasn't the one who told them'

Lupin nodded, knowing that the dark haired man in front of him was telling the truth

'And Cass, she has been protected by magic... She told me so herself, when the Dementors come she hears Alice Longbottom screaming for her son's life to be spared- that must have come from her mother's magic- from Bellatrix Lestrange'.

Snape simply half nodded in agreement and Lupin looked him square in the face with a steely gaze.

'It's you, isn't it. You're the one who had an affair with Bellatrix Leatrange? You're the father of Cass Dolan?'.

Lupin was mer with an astonished silence.

Let me know what you think, please review

Some World Cup action next chapter, and Cass is faced with the Malfoy's again.

X


	19. Chapter 19

Enjoy x

* * *

Snape was silent for a long time, looking at Lupin with an unreadable expression before he spoke, his voice dark and cold. 'If you don't leave right now, then I will pretend that you were never here'. Lupin shook his head, standing adamantly in front of the man he'd known since they were children.

'No, Severus, I'm not leaving until you tell me. If I worked it out, then Cass will at some point'. Snape blinked, looking livid behind his dark eyes, his voice biting 'And what makes you assume you are correct? You've made an assumption only Lupin'.

'Severus- I know. I know it's you, you are Cass's father aren't you? There is no way it is Rudolphus Lestrange, we all know about what Mad Eye Moody did to him… You, there were rumours about Bellatrix and a lot of men fourteen years ago, but I remember for sure that you were one of them. I remember, because I was sitting with Frank and Alice when I heard, and we were all amazed at how far you had fallen'.

Snape said nothing, eyes radiating anger and resentment as Lupin continued to speak regardless

'What I didn't tell Cass was that protective magic isn't an easy thing to do, not at all, and it requires two people, just like an unbreakable vow. You cannot do it alone, physically impossible, it would drain the giver too much. When confronted with the Dementors, Cass had memories that can only have been from Bellatrix Lestrange. I mean... that wasn't exactly a surprise to me if I'm honest, she looks more like her every single day, it'll be obvious soon enough… There could be any number of possible parents, but there is one thing that gives it away Severus, there's no point denying it to me. After Cass came to me, I read up again on protective magic- It leaves dark bruise- like marks on the arms. I've seen them Severus, on you'.

Snape was quiet for a long time before swallowing and looking away slightly 'What did you come here for Lupin?'.

'I don't know really. I just… I had to be sure- be sure I was right. Can I see them?'.

Snape exhaled deeply, resigned to Lupin's determination and worn down by it.

He looked around, checking that there was no one in the sleepy little street to see anything before pulling up the sleeves of his robes and roughly putting his arms out for Lupin to see.

Lupin looked down at the incredibly pale forearms of the man he knew absolutely despised him. The Dark Mark was clear and Lupin looked up, Snape raising an eyebrow 'What, you can't be surprised by the Mark on me surely wolf?'.

Lupin shook his head slightly 'I just… I've never seen one up close, not since you-know-who fell, they look different'.

Snape made a flippant 'Uhuh' type noise and Lupin reached out and held Snape's wrists, turning his arms around and made a noise as he took a sharp intake of breath when he saw what he'd come to see.

From the elbow down was a deep, dark bruise-like mark that twisted in one long tendril from each elbow down to the wrists, a faint purple tinge to both of them. Lupin knew exactly what it was, he didn't even have to question it.

The two men met eyes and Snape wrenched his arms from Lupin's grasp and angrily rolled down his sleeves.

'I was barely a child myself, when you-know-who fell we were what, 21 years old? When it 'happened' I was just over 19 years old, Bellatrix was an older, powerful woman and I was down a little of Firewhiskey, it's not a surprise it happened really, in hindsight. It was the stupidest thing I could have done. Somehow a woman that evil and twisted with anger, and a man as broken as me made a child as perfect as Cassiopeia Dolan has turned out'.

Lupin looked a little lost for words for a few seconds , his voice quiet when he finally spoke 'Severus, why did you leave her though? Bellatrix Lestrange was going to end up in Azkaban, you escaped that fate. Why did you give her up?'.

'How could a man like me raise a little girl? We had already given her the protective magic…It was the only thing I could think of doing. If you tell anyone about this Lupin, I'll kill you'.

Lupin nodded, seeing the expression on his ex colleagues face, and knew that he wasn't lying.

In Ottery St Catchpole Cass was sitting in the sun with Neville beside her as they relaxed in the baking sunshine. Neville was spending the day at the Diggory house and they were lying in the long soft grass, watching a small group of fairies fly around them, making a high pitched noise to eachother and flittering around like butterflies.

Neville exhaled deeply, looking incredibly relaxed 'I still can't believe Gran won't let me go to the Quidditch game, It's the bloody world cup final!'. Cass turned her head to him, smiling sympathetically at him 'I know, but there will be others! Next time there's a cup final, we'll go together, promise?'. Neville nodded 'promise'.

Cass turned over so she was on her front and propped up on her forearms, awkwardly toying with a long blade of grass as a blue winged fairy settled on her long black curly hair, gently fluttering it's wings.

'Neville… can I ask you something?'. He looked over and leant onto his side, looking at her with an intrigued expression. 'Anything'.

Cass swallowed awkwardly 'My biological parents… what would you do if…you know…they were bad people? If it came out they were bad people? I love my parents but the people who left me outside St Mungo's probably aren't going to be such nice people… what would you do?'.

Neville frowned, shaking his head 'it's not your fault is it? We don't really have a choice who our parents are do we? I'm sure if we could, most people would ask for a change wouldn't they? I can't see why you think it would change anything for me? You're still the same person Cass, regardless'.

She nodded, blinking away the beginning of some tears and Neville frowned, looking confused 'what are you getting upset about?'.

'I just… I needed to know I had you next to me'. Neville's voice was quiet 'always'. As Cass looked up she was met by her best friends intense eyes looking at her before he leant in for a brief, quick kiss on her lips.

Neville pulled back quickly 'Sorry, I- never mind. I have to go'.

He stood up quickly, sending the fairies darting away in fear. 'I need to go home. Please, don't ever talk about this again'.

By the time Cass had scrambled to her feet, Neville had already hurried into the otherwise empty Diggory house, and she saw a bright burst of light from the doorway, knowing that he had already floo'd out of her house.

Cass sat back down heavily in the grass, looking lost and confused at what had just happened.

She wanted to talk to someone, both her parents were at work and Cedric was out with friends. The more she thought about it, the more confused Cass felt. Her best friend had just kissed her, and she hadn't seen it coming at all.

Finally resigned to the situation, Cass stood up and made her way across the fields towards the Burrow, a place she absolutely loved. Whenever they were home it was so common for the Weasley's to be at the Diggory house and for Cass to be at the Burrow that no one was that surprised by her unannounced arrival.

Molly Weasley was cooking in the kitchen and greeted Cass enthusiastically, rushing around trying to cook. 'Hello dear, are you staying for dinner tonight?'. 'Oh no thank you, I was looking for Ron actually?'.

'He's upstairs with Ginny and the twins I think. Oh Bill and Charlie are here too dear, they're in the living room'.

Cass excused herself and went into the living room with a smirk 'How's my favourite dragon boy and curse breakers doing?'. The brothers looked up with surprise that turned to huge smiles 'Cass! Bloody hell it's been a while hasn't it!'.

Charlie looked at his bother with a smirk 'You'd be proud,, I heard she now has the record for most detentions in one semester. More than the twins! Would you believe it, little trouble maker!'.

Bill smiled 'All grown up now eh? I remember when you were first brought home to the Diggory house, it was the same day I got my Hogwarts letter. To say mum was excited was an understatement, I thought she would spontaneously combust. Anyway, I'll let you get off and talk to Ron'.

She smiled and left, walking upstairs to find Ron messing around with the twins and asked if she could speak to him in private so they went into his messy bedroom.

'Right… Uh, Neville kissed me'. To her surprise he simply laughed 'And?'. 'What do you mean? He's my best friend! It's like you kissing Hermione, wouldn't you be confused?'.

'Cass, the whole Wizarding world knows he likes you. Bloody hell, I think we've known it longer than he has!'.

'But… Ron… I need a best friend right now, what am I meant to do… I mean, everything is just falling apart right now. I know I've got you guys, but I need Neville, I need my best friend… I can't just lose him… but then I can't just spend all this time with him and not tell him the truth. I can't just not tell him that my biological mother is the woman who tortured his parents to insanity… He can say that nothing would change our friendship…I think that definitely would though'.

For the first time in a long time, Cass broke down into tears, leaving Ron looking startled and wary. 'Uh… are you okay?'.

Cass gave him a withering look 'of course I'm not… my mother's a murdering psycho and my dad could be anyone. Could be dead, could be Fudge, could be that creepy guy from Borgin and Burke's, could be the blonde man from the robe shop, God it could even me Snape!'.

That tipped Cass over the edge and she started crying again as Ron awkwardly patted her arm, as if anymore contact with a crying woman would somehow infect him.

A long way away, Severus Snape was sitting in the study of his house in a leather chair, simply staring at the marks on his arms. Everyone thought he always wore long sleeved cloaks to cover his dark mark. If they knew the truth… If they knew the truth what would they do?

With a sigh Snape stood up, pacing the room tentatively. He trusted Lupin, though he despised the man, he trusted him, though he didn't really know why.

Angry at himself Snape glanced over at the rolls of parchment in the corner of the room and shook his head at himself.

He had kept them all, despite himself, he had kept every one of them. The good ones, the bad ones, and the ones in the middle- he had kept them in his home for three years.

Cass's potions essays.

He didn't know why, but they were sometimes the only thing that kept Snape going through all the painful memories that floated through his head.

* * *

_Please review and let me know what you thought and what you want to see! _

_x_


	20. Chapter 20

The Diggory's and the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione met together on the morning of the cup final to get the Portkey. The Weasley's were in one of the top boxes and went up the south stairs, whist Amos, Cedric and Cass had seats in one of the Ministry boxes with Kingsley and some friends.

Their box was almost immediately opposite the one the Weasley's, Fudge and the Malfoy's and Cass was looking over with her charmed binoculars, seeing that Draco was already looking right at her with his own.

Cass simply responded with a -discreetly hidden from her father – middle finger, that made him drop them and look away, leaving Cass with a smug smirk.

After the game, Cass met up with Harry, Ron and Hermione as their tents were only a few metres apart. Harry and Cass wandered off to find Oliver Wood, talking as they passed huge groups of people.

'So, have you spoken to Neville recently?'. She shook her head, looking despondent 'not since he kissed me, no. I'm waiting for him to make the first contact'.

Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing about it as they spotted Oliver Wood, who broke out in a huge grin as he saw two of his youngest ex teammates.

A few hours later, everyone was either still asleep or out celebrating, as the Irish were doing incredibly loudly, cheering and sending green and gold sparks into the air and singing loudly.

It wasn't long later however, that the sound changed completely, clearly not a happy, cheerful atmosphere anymore. At the first scream, Cass was wide awake and pulling on her jeans and jumper, waking Cedric up quickly.

'What? Cass it's the middle of the night'

She shook her head 'I've got that feeling and I heard a scream, wake Dad up'. Cedric was suddenly fully awake, he knew exactly what 'that feeling' meant. His sister had felt it right before the first Basilisk attack and every one afterwards, and had been sick every time Quirrell came anywhere near her.

He trusted it implicitly, quickly pulling on a jumper and waking Amos. By this point, the screams had become louder and more frequent, the fabric of their tent lit up with bright sparks and what appeared to be fire.

Amos had wide eyes and looked at both his children 'go to the woods, stay with your friends okay?' They both nodded and left quickly.

Cedric had run off to find the twins, who were with Angelina and Lee, as Cass had stayed with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

The crowd was busy and a mess, no one knew what to do or what was going on, simply a teeming mass of panicked people.

They saw Draco Malfoy standing with Crabbe and Goyle, who made a vague comment that no one paid any attention to.

Except Cass, who was already tense and jumpy. It hadn't been, but Cass thought it had been a mention of Bellatrix Lestrange being her mother and watched in anger as Malfoy wandered off, leaving his two henchmen in the crowd

Cass looked through the crowd and muttered 'blonde haired little git' under her breath and disappeared into the crowd of Irish supporters and then into the darkness of the woods, Harry, Ron and Hermione already couldn't see where she was.

Ron frowned 'Do you think we should go after her?'. Hermione shook her head 'no, we'll get lost too. Cass will find her way back'.

Cass followed Draco into a small clearing where they were alone and pulled her wand out by her side, eyes narrowed 'Draco, you promised me you would say nothing!'. He turned, looking exasperated 'I didn't say anything for Merlin's sake Dolan. What do you want me to say- I haven't said anything'.

She narrowed her eyes, not looking convinced 'Crabbe and Goyle, what did they mean then?'. He exhaled deeply with a shrug 'I don't know, can you just leave me the hell alone?'.

Cass balled her hands in to _fists _'Malfoy one of these days I'll fucking kill you'He turned and shouted 'Stupefy' but she blocked it with a nonverbal spell and then Cass's fired a spell right at him 'Tarantellegra!'_, _which made his legs flail around violently.

Cass quickly took the charm off and Draco was breathing heavily, looking at her warily 'what is wrong with you? You're out of control'. Cass held out a hand to help him up and Draco paused for a second, looking at it as Cass smirked with a raised eyebrow 'I guess it runs in the family'.

After another second, Draco took her hand and got to his feet.

'Ah, so now you want to admit you're family then?'. She rolled her eyes and shook her head 'lets not do this now, I need to find the others, you should find your dad, I'm sure he's…'out there' somewhere'. Draco narrowed his eyes at her hardly veiled insinuation that his father was one of the Death Eaters but said nothing about it.

'I'll be seeing you then- cousin'. She exhaled deeply but simply watched him walk off.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry, Ron and Hermione had been found near the Dark Mark, the auror's treating them with suspicion until they had identified the wand that had cast it. Immediately after that, they heard a rustling not far off, and half of them had disapperated to the spot, another clearing a little way off.

The other half had stayed where the mark was cast, and Arthur Weasley went too, joined by about ten other Auror's and members of the ministry who had been on their way to the Dark Mark clearing.

Cass was covered in smears of dirt and her own blood, coming from the cuts on her forehead, hands and heavily bleeding nose. She looked dazed and confused, her eyes completely unfocused as Kingsley hurriedly crouched in front of her.

'Cass, Cass look at me, what happened?'. She looked up at him, eyes unfocused 'who won?'. Kingsley glanced quickly at the other men around with a wary expression 'Cass, do you not remember the match? What do you remember from today?'.

Her eyelids were flickering and her eyes weren't focused on Kingsley or anyone else around, simply staring at a point on the leafy ground. 'We met the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione... Did I miss the game?'.

The sound of rustling and snapping twigs made them all turn around quickly. Amos Diggory appeared in the clearing, eyes locked on his daughter immediately. 'Oh Cass, thank god you're alright'. Arthur Weasley held him back slightly 'She's had the memory of today wiped Amos'.

Amos faltered and Kingsley glanced around, a sympathetic expression on his face. 'Last thing she remembers is meeting for the Portkey this morning. She must have seen what happened in the other clearing or who it was, and had her memory cleared'.

Cass looked up, her eyes vacant 'hi Dad, when is the match starting?'. Amos swallowed and made his way over to his daughter as Kingsley gently muttered a spell that healed the cuts on her to stop them bleeding.

Amos crouched in front of her, holding her face gently, looking into her dazed eyes. 'Cass, your memory's been wiped, the match has happened, it's the evening after'.

'Oh... Did we win?'. Amos nodded, looking resigned and looking back at all the Ministry men behind him and at Kingsley 'my wife is a Healer, I'll take her to St Mungo's, Cedric's with Fred and George back at the tents'.

The auror Rufus Scrimgeour stepped forward, his voice light 'Amos, we have to check the last spell on her wand- it's procedure'. Amos nodded and handed Scrimgeour his daughter's wand, letting the elder wizard mutter something, a black and purple light bursting out of the end, along with a ghostly disembodied version of Cass's voice shouting '_Malfoy one of these days I'll fucking kill you' _then what was clearly Draco Malfoy's voice came out _'Stupefy'_ and then Cass's voice came again _'Tarantellegra!'._

The misty light disappeared and everyone glanced at each other as Kinglsey smirked slightly 'looks like Mr Malfoy might be needing a bit of 'help' when we find him. Amos, you can take her with you'.

Scrimgeour picked up a long twig from the floor and with his own wand, muttered a spell over it and held it with the material of his cloak. 'Portkey, it'll take you both to St Mungo's entrance hall'. He handed Amos back Cass's wand and looked down at the young girl 'On three Cass, can you hold this?'.

She nodded and Scrigeour counted to three and both Cass and Amos disappeared with a faint pop as they touched the charmed twig.

Scimgeour looked at a slightly confused looking Kingsley and explained 'He's just seen his daughter with a day of her memory wiped, he wasn't in any place to be apperating with her'.

Kingsley nodded with a sigh and stood up 'whoever cast the Dark Mark must have passed through and wiped her memory of seeing them. I think she walked a little way, see the broken twigs and the bushes moved over there?'.

They all looked over and saw what looked like a confused, weaving line through the bushes and the leaves.

Arthur Weasley sighed 'I just came from there, my son was nearly stunned by some over-zealous Auror's. I'll let them explain to you what happened, I have to get back to my children, Hermione, Harry and Cedric'. Scrimgeour nodded 'yes, of course. Thank you Arthur, we'll see you on Monday at the Ministry'.

Hours later, Snape slammed his hands down on the desk, though Dumbledore didn't move or flinch, watching the dark haired man closely.

'Memory wiped? What in Merlin's name happened? Potter was nearly hurt by the Auror's as well… I can't believe this happened'.

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, fingers steepled thoughtfully on his chin. 'Tell me, Severus, what is it you are angry about here?'.

He looked up, eyes unreadable ad his voice quiet 'a storm is coming, and I can't protect my own daughter anymore'.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise at his incredibly honest words.

Feeling better in St Mungo's, Cass had no idea how lucky she was to have left the woods with only a few hours of her memory wiped. Crouch Jr had recognized her, which was the only reason she was still even alive.

Even in Akzaban they were allowed to read the Daily Prophet, Rita Skeeter had done a small piece on the 'abandoned baby' case and how they still didn't know who the parents were, despite all the time that had passed.

A picture of Cass had been included, one of her and Cedric on platform 9 ¾ that she had clearly found somehow, as they had only given that photo to a few family members.

The picture was a year old, but even without having seen it, Crouch Jr. knew exactly who she was, the first glimpse he'd had of her had been then mass of black curly hair, prominent cheekbones, full lips, dark eyes and even just the way she walked through the clearing. He couldn't understand how no one had simply guessed who her parents were, she had Bella's hair and physical shape, and Snape's eyes, cheekbones and intelligence.

What Cass didn't remember was the only words Crouch had spoken to her.

'I remain loyal to my master, Bellatrix and Severus would be so happy you were here to witness my support, maybe one day you can join us Cassiopeia'. Cass had simply blinked in surprise 'Severus… Severus Snape? What…?'.

Crouch had smirked in amusement 'you didn't know?'. She simply shook her head and it was only as the realisation of what he had said dawned on her with horror that he smiled slightly 'I'm sorry, this has to be done'.

With that he had raised his wand and cleared her memory of him, the shock to her system making the young girl fall to the floor, cutting her forehead, hands and hurting her nose in the process.

By the time she came around again, Cass felt dazed and confused, limping as far as she could before sitting down against the tree where she had been found by the Ministry members.

There wasn't long left of the summer holidays, not long left until the Tri Wizard Tournemant would begin, and the Diggory's would be celebrating together at Cedric being chosen as a competitor.

It also meant that time was running out for life as Harry, Cedric and Cass knew it.

Things would never be the same again, as one would be killed and Voldermort would be back. With Voldermorts return, Cass had no chance anymore of keeping her secret to herself.

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_Let me know what you think, as always please review x _


	21. Chapter 21

_Enjoy x_

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After leaving Cass with his wife Seren and several other healers at St Mungo's, Amos had been called back to the office as Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had received a call from the Auror department.

Amos wasn't really sure himself what had happened but Mad Eye Moody had made some type of claim about an intruder, and they wanted to make sure there was no magical creatures there, as he'd been rambling about his bins rattling.

As it turned out, neither Amos, Gawain Robards or Proudfoot had been able to find anything at the house, assuming it was a feral cat or something.

Of course, if they had known the truth, all three of them wouldn't have left in such good spirits. Amos Diggory would look back on that moment and realise everything he could have prevented, if only he had known- maybe Cedric would have survived, as would so many others.

Seren sat next to her sleeping daughters bed for three hours as the teenager slept off the strong sleeping draught they had administered. Seren was gently stroking her daughters long black hair, watching her sleep. She hated to think about it, but any time that Cass had come to this building it was simply a painful reminder of the way she had been left here years before.

Eventually, Cass blinked, looking around and her eyes finally focussing on Seren, her voice dry and quiet 'Mum… how much?'. Seren blinked in confusion 'what do you mean dear?'.

'How much was wiped?'. They had done some tests and she sighed 'about 10 hours, not any longer than that'.

Cass laid back in the bed, looking relieved 'thank Merlin for that. Neville will be pleased at least'. Seren frowned and Cass explained 'he didn't get to see the game, I guess technically I didn't either'. Seren shook her head and touched her daughters hand tenderly 'It doesn't matter now Cass. Hermione, Harry, Cedric, your father and the Weasely's are all okay, and so are you. Cedric has been frantic, he even shouted at Ron for letting you walk off'.

Two weeks later everyone was back on platform 9 3/4 getting ready to head back to Hogwarts for another year. Of course, none of them could know what was truly in store for them, but at that moment in time, everyone was excited to be going back. It was hardly like a normal school, and Cass passed Lee Jordan's parents sternly telling him that any more detentions and they would be sending a howler.

She smirked and Seren nudged her as they continued to walk 'I don't know what you're laughing at young lady, she's got the right idea'. Cedric pulled a wide, sarcastic smile at his sister before turning back to his mother

'Can't agree more mum, maybe you should send her a weekly one, just to keep her in line'.

Seren simply pulled a face at her son and the Diggory's loaded up their children's trunks and waved them off from the station.

Amos and Seren went back to their house that day in high spirits, completely unaware that they would never again be waving their son off at the station platform, one year from today and it would be Cass heading off alone.

On the train the two siblings parted to find their friends, Cass holding her new young black cat called Cerce that her parents had given her. Struggling through the crowd someone she didn't know looked at Cass with wide, bright eyes 'Cass- Cass, who did it? The Dark Mark?'. She turned around, eyes dark and angry 'you know what a memory wipe spell does? It wipes your memory- there's a clue in the name. For the last time, I- don't- know'.

The little second year looked terrified and Neville laughed, suddenly appearing and pulling her into an empty carriage beside them, closing the door swiftly behind them.

'Just to warn you, everyone up and down this train is talking about you, seem to think you're the next Potter or something. You were easy to find, I just followed the trail of people whispering your name'. Cass groaned and sat down heavily on one of the chairs, Neville sitting opposite

'I've had it since I was left at St Mungo's, you'd think people would have had enough by now'.

Neville smiled sympathetically 'one day they will'. The cat jumped casually out of Cass's arms and onto Neville's lap, where it curled up immediately, looking half asleep with seconds.

Neville looked up in surprise 'who's this then?'. 'Cerce, Mum and Dad got him for me'. Neville stroked the cat thoughtfully 'Cerce, Greek goddess, known Witch…one of the earliest recorded usages of a wand'. Cass blinked in surprise 'yes… I didn't even know you'd learnt about her?'.

He shrugged 'I didn't, I just remember you talking about her, fascinating really'.

Cass blinked again, still looking surprised 'oh…okay…about what happened in the meadow-'. Neville cut her off before she could speak 'I vote we never talk about it again, okay?'. After a few seconds she nodded, and they lapsed into easy conversation, being joined by Parvati, Padma and Seamus not long after.

At the feast everyone was excited, hundreds of teenagers who hadn't seen each other all summer, joining together over an enormous feast. It was towards the end of the feast (when the food had somehow been nearly finished off, despite the mountains that had been on the House tables) that the doors suddenly swung open and Mad Eye Moody hobbled up to the top table.

It was an awkward introduction to the school, Neville looked terrified as one of his eyes landed in his direction. Of course, Moody's eyes only briefly settled on Neville before looking back at Cass, seeing no recognition on her face.

A little time later, Dumbledore stood up to make his speech, everyone going silent to listen.

'It is with some regret that I tell you there will be no Quidditch at Hogwarts this year'. Across the hall Harry, Cass, Angelina Johnson, the Weasley twins, Cedric, Roger Davies and Draco Malfoy all stood up sharply 'what?'. Dumbledore laughed lightly, looking over his glasses at the horrified looking students in front of him.

'If you would all like to sit down, I shall explain why'. Neville tugged sharply at Cass's arm and she sat heavily down on the bench, looking over at Cedric, who looked as equally horrified and shook his head at her, looking disgusted with the situation before they both looked back up at the headmaster.

'Hogwarts will be hosting the first Tri Wizard Tournament in several years. The games are a display of strength and unity, both through the nominated champions, and through the meeting of the three schools involved. Representatives from Bauxbaton and Durmstrang will be arriving here next month, them and those over the age limit at this school will be able to enter their names, and a champion will be picked from each school. This is not for the faint hearted however, or those purely looking for the gold at the end- the challenges are made to stretch and test the abilities of the champions. It will not be easy, and it should not be entered into without due thought before. We will tell you more about the Tournament through your Heads of Houses, we expect the representatives from the other schools to be made to feel welcome and united through their time at this school'.

Everyone looked at each other and a few minutes later, the feast was over and everyone started to stand and leave the Hall.

Cass left her friends and made her way over to Cedric, who was waiting for her with a big grin on his face by his House table, throwing an arm around her shoulders. 'Alright little sis? Happy to be back?'. She nodded but gave him a look, eyes narrowed 'you're going to do it aren't you? You're going to enter it'.

He gave her a huge grin 'ah, you know me too well Cassy. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go for it, restore some pride to my House'.

Cass smiled, trying to hide her real feelings 'Didn't know Hufflepuff had any pride to restore'. He laughed and kissed her hair 'I'll let that one slide, I have to go to my Common Room, I'll see you tomorrow'.

Cass watched Cedric leave, only a few stragglers left in the Hall as she stood and watched him go, a forlorn look on her face.

Snape was one of the last teachers to leave as well, spotting Cass and walking down the Hall towards her. 'Is there a reason you're the only person who hasn't run off to your Common Room with everyone else?'.

She looked up in surprise and blinked 'I…I don't feel right about this… something bad is coming, I can feel it'.

Snape looked down at her, seeing the distress, fear and confusion on her pale face. What he wanted to do was grab her, tell her everything was going to be alright and that he would never, ever let anything happen to her.

Of course, all he did was shake his head slightly, his voice quiet 'you are safe at this school Cass, never forget that'.

She nodded slightly and slowly left the hall, looking resigned to whatever was coming her way.

Cass looked resigned to whatever her fate was going to be, looking thoughtful. She didn't even realise that her biological father was watching her leave, feeling physically sick as he watched her go.

The Dark Mark on his arm had been prickling with a warm feeling over the last few months, though it was nothing compared to the pain he felt every time he saw the purple marks on his arms, realising what he had given up.

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_Please review and let me know what you think and what you want to see _

_x_


	22. Chapter 22

The two schools had arrived at the end of October, and people had been putting their names in the Goblet of fire for it's consideration of them as their school's champion. Despite Cass asking him several times not to, Cedric had still put his name into the goblet.

The goblet ceremony was due for the Friday evening after dinner, and at the lunch meal, Lee Jordan was taking everyone's bets on who would be Hogwarts named champion. Under pressure from everyone around her Cass smiled, writing down Cedric's name on the slip, looking at it with a sigh before handing it to Lee, who nodded and noted it down on the parchment.

She turned and muttered to Neville 'I don't want him to be named, but I know he will'. He smiled encouragingly and squeezed her hand slightly under the table 'I know, I know. Do you want to go to the library?'. She nodded and walked away with him, looking glum.

That evening everyone from all three schools was sitting in the Great Hall, Neville looking closely at Cass's worried expression as she looked over at her brother just before the Hogwarts champion was named.

'Cedric Diggory'.

There were cheers and applause from the school but Snape briefly glanced over at Cass as the name was read out. She had closed her eyes and shook her head slightly before opening them and applauding, a fake smile plastered on her face.

Ten minutes later Dumbledore slowly read out the fourth name from the Goblet 'Harry Potter'.

Everyone went silent and looked shocked, staring at Harry. Cass however rested her head on her folded arms, looking exhausted and drained. She felt the sick, twisted feeling in her stomach again, wanting to be physically sick- the same way she'd felt the day of the first Basilisk attack.

Neville felt Cass grab his hand under the table with trembling hands, holding him tightly. He glanced at her as Harry slowly walked up the hall and heard her speak, though her voice was so quiet it was barely audible. 'Why aren't we ever allowed to just be happy?'. Cass felt so sick afterwards that even when she was allowed in to see Cedric in the little room where they were waiting, she muttered a few words of congratulation to both him and Harry and simply left hurriedly.

The Gryffindor common room was awash with people celebrating but Cass squeezed past them all and went up to bed, sleeping for several hours. When she woke Hermione was going to bed and said that the party was over and everyone was going to sleep, though Harry had gone for a walk to clear his head after arguing with Ron.

Harry returned at 5 Am, invisibility cloak and Marauders map both in hand as he did a double take, surprised to see anyone still awake.

Cass was sitting in the common room, which was otherwise empty, the embers dying in the grate of the previously roaring fire. She was in her pyjamas bit curled up on the chair, her cat snoozing on the floor beside her. Harry blinked, looking confused 'Cass… What are you doing still up?'.

She stretched, looking sleepy and cricking her neck 'I needed to know, from you, without anyone else around'. He nodded and leant against the pillar 'know what?'. Cass sighed, looking him dead in the eyes 'did you put your own name in the Goblet?'. He met her gaze without a blink or a pause to think before speaking 'No'.

She nodded, looking appeased 'okay, well, you should get to bed Harry, you look shattered'. He looked confused 'you're just going to believe me? I told that to Ron and he didn't believe me!'. Cass simply shrugged 'I can tell when you're lying, and I know that right now you're telling me the truth. When Sirius finds out he'll go berserk'.

Harry ran a hand through his hair, looking exasperated 'God, you're right…he must know by now, he'll owl me soon enough'.

Cass looked at her friend closely, expression serious 'the thing is Harry, you can't take this lightly. The tournemant is meant to stretch you to your absolute limits, that's the whole point isn't it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting your magical capabilities, I just… you're much younger than the other three competitors aren't you. Fair enough you've not exactly had an easy ride for the last three years, but they are further advanced than you… That's not the real problem though is it'.

Harry looked up with raised eyebrows 'what is?'.

'Well, someone put your name in the Goblet didn't they, and they knew full well that it would have chosen you. That only leaves one conclusion Harry…someone wants you in that Tournament and they'll do anything to get you there… call me pessimistic but that doesn't tend to be a good thing'.

Harry nodded, exhaling deeply at her words 'I know, I know… it would be nice to have at least one quiet year at this school wouldn't it'. Cass laughed hollowly 'that's exactly what Hermione said to me earlier… I don't… I told Cedric not to enter his name…'.

Harry shook his head 'Cass, stop worrying, we've always got through everything haven't we?'. She nodded with a shrug, not wanting to tell him just how bad the feeling in her stomach was. For now, they were simply two fourteen year olds with the world at their feet, trying to forget the horrors of the past and not wanting to think of the ones that probably lay in the future.

Cass was the first one up in the dormitory the next morning and went down to breakfast before any of the girls were awake, taking a huge, heavy book with her to read at the Gryffindor table. Breakfast itself didn't even start for over an hour and the hall was relatively empty save for a few others also getting some work done.

After about forty minutes Cass became aware of people coming loudly into the Great Hall but ignored them until her friends came down, clearly assuming that she would be excited about both Harry and her brother competing against each other. Cass simply gave smiles and nods that Neville saw right through but chose not to say anything until later when they were heading for their Defence against the dark arts class with Mad Eye Moody.

'You're not okay are you?'. She shook her head 'Anyone in the whole bloody school could have been the champion, and it's my brother and my friend… I can't catch a bloody break can I?'.

In the lesson Moody seemed to have completely let loose, deciding casually to show the class of fourth years the unforgivable curses. It was when he pulled the spider out and shouted 'crucio' that both Neville and Cass had the same horrified reactions.

Neville was white as a sheet and was sitting back in his chair, hands tightly clenched on the desks edges. Cass was shaking, looking as though she was about to be physically sick breathing deeply and shakily until she suddenly stood, her chair scraping loudly on the floor before she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Moody stopped the spell and looked up 'Now, the final and worst of the curses-'. He simply finished the lesson as if nothing had happened and one of his students hadn't walked out.

At lunch Cass wasn't exactly keen on talking about the lesson or why she had walked out and it was quickly dropped by everyone, who moved quickly on to other conversations when they saw her dark expression every time it was brought up.

On purpose Cass moved down the table a little to sit with the twins so that there was no chance of the class being brought up again.

Halfway through the hushed conversation with Fred and George where they were planning a prank that Peeves had suggested, Cass felt a hand on her shoulder and a deep voice behind her 'I hope you're not trying to lead my daughter astray?'.

She turned and saw Amos there, grinning widely. 'Dad!' she looked elated and confused at the same time, jumping up and hugging him tightly. 'what're you doing here?'

He smiled, kissing her on the cheek 'come to see my champion son'. She grinned and looked around 'where's mum?' Amos shook his head 'oh she had to work, I'm not here for long though, they're meant to have the parents come in a few weeks but Dumbledore told me I could drop in'.

She smiled, looking relieved 'you have no idea how good it is to see you Dad'. He looked surprised but let her hug him tightly again.

At the head table Snape dropped his fork and stood, looking both angry and upset, jaw tight as he muttered something about having marking to do. Flitwick glanced at the back of the billowing robes of the Potion master but said nothing. Of course, Snape didn't have any marking to do, he just felt a wave of jealousy and loss come over him seeing Amos Diggory hugging Cass. He was being the father that Snape had never been able to be, and it made him feel like a failure.

Severus Snape regretted a lot of things that he had done in his lifetime, but seeing his daughter being raised by a different man brought it all horribly close to home.


	23. Chapter 23

Cass was sitting under a large tree under beside the lake, back against the trunk as she was flipping through a heavy old text book, reading intently.

A group of Hufflepuff's she vaguely knew went past her, glancing over and laughing slightly as they saw that she had the Slytherin made 'Potter stinks' badge on one side of her jumper, and on the other she had the Gryffindor response, which was a badge with 'Diggory sucks'. Shaking their heads, they moved on.

It was a warm Friday afternoon and many of them had finished early in the day, including the fourth years. Cass had sloped off to do some work and had been largely left on her own until she saw a shadow pass over her and glanced up, seeing someone in front of her she didn't recognize. He was tall with broad shoulders, dark brown hair and high cheekbones with a slight smile.

Cass blinked and the boy spoke, his accent letting her know immediately that he was from Durmstrang 'Am I interrupting you?'.

She shook her head 'no no, I was just doing some reading'.

'Dannyl' he held out his hand and she smiled slightly, shaking his hand 'Cass'. He motioned to the grass beside her 'Can I sit?'. She nodded 'yeah, of course'.

He sat down beside her, knees up and looking out over the lake 'In Durmstrang we have a lake too, there are creatures in this lake?'. She nodded with a shrug 'loads of them, I don't know exactly which, what do you have at Durmstrang?'.

He leant back on the grass, leaning on his arms 'Merpeople, Phenoc's… There are too many to list. Anyway- what are you reading?'. She showed the front cover and saw him reading it slowly before nodding 'your English is the best from your school'.

'My mother is English, mine is probably better than Karkoff's'. Cass laughed and closed the book, sitting and talking to Dannyl for what ended up being nearly two hours.

Neville was already sitting at the Gryffindor table when Cass and Dannyl came in to the Hall, splitting off as he went over to sit with his friends on the Slytherin table as Cass went to sit beside Neville.

'Hi, I haven't seen you all day'. He made a vague grunting noise and continued to eat his food, leaving her bewildered 'Sorry but have I done something wrong?'.

Neville shook his head, cutting his food so hard that the knife and fork were scraping on the plate 'nope'.

Cass looked annoyed and Neville muttered 'if I'm boring you, you can always go and sit with your new friend'.

She shook her head, looking incredibly pissed off, standing up sharply 'Sorry Neville, I didn't realise I had to ask your permission before I spoke to people, sorry, I'll try and remember for next time'.

He was about to say something but Cass shook her head 'don't both Neville'. Without another word she stormed out of the Great Hall, looking livid.

Cass had expected everyone to be down in the Great Hall for dinner, and did a double take when she saw Harry sitting on his own in the common room, looking into the fire and looking thoughtful, looking up as she stormed through the portrait hole.

'Cass…what are you doing here? I thought you'd be at dinner?'. She sighed 'I was, but Neville seems to think that I need to have his permission to speak to people from Durmstrang. Idiot'.

Harry blinked 'what do you mean?'. 'I was speaking to someone from Durmstrang earlier and Neville must have seen me, he seems all moody about it- he's just being an idiot'.

'Right… I spoke to Padfoot last night, in the fire'. Cass looked up sharply 'is he okay?'.

Harry nodded 'he's worried about both of us, he seems to be okay though. I told him you're okay, although you evidently aren't'.

Cass looked away slightly but tried to change the subject 'you are also skipping dinner'. Harry stood up, looking tired 'I can't be dealing with all the Gryffindor's asking how I got my name in the Goblet, and the Raveclaw's, Hufflepuff's and Slytherin's looking at me like I'm as bad as You Know Who or something- I can't win really'.

Cass squeezed his arm lightly, voice heavily sarcastic 'Chin up Harry, what's the worst that could happen?'. Harry snorted with derisive laughter and they both looked up as the portrait swung open.

Neville was standing there, looking awkward. Harry quickly muttered an excuse and disappeared up to the boys rooms. Neville and Cass looked at each other looked at each other for a minute or two, a complete silence descending between them until Neville spoke, his voice quiet.

'I'm sorry, it's not my business who you talk to, I know that'. Cass cocked her head to one side 'then explain who you got annoyed I was speaking to Dannyl. You realise that the whole point of this stupid tournament is to bring the three schools together, talking to people is sort of the idea'.

'Yes, I get that Cass, I was just… I guess… I guess I was jealous'. She looked confused 'what, because I was _**talking**_to someone else? Bloody hell Neville'.

'No, when I saw you with him you were laughing and you looked so happy- I haven't made you look like that for a long time. You've been so sad recently, since the names were called'.

Cass sat down on the arm of the sofa 'I just know that something bad is coming, I don't know how to explain it but I just do. Something just isn't right, and all the time I'm here I feel it more and more. I can't lose Harry or Cedric, I don't know what I would do'.

Neville moved over, putting his hands on her shoulders gently 'I agree, something isn't right, but you've got more people here for you than you'd probably realise. You can't let them win Cass'.

She glanced up, about to say something but found her voice catch in her throat as they looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. Neither of them said anything and it seemed that they both moved at the same time, Cass craning her neck up as Neville leant down slightly.

As he kissed her, Cass kissed back as Neville ran his hands through her hair, neither of them noticing that they were no longer alone in the common room until a cough broke them apart.

Fred, George and Lee were standing just inside the entrance with three sets of identical smug grins, George smirked before he spoke 'well, well, well, we've been waiting for this for four bloody years!'.

Cass was incredibly red, embarrassed at being caught, her voice barely a mutter 'I need to do some work'. With that Cass hurried off up the stone steps to the girl's dormitories, not meeting any of the boy's eyes.

Neville looked uncomfortable and Fred shook his head 'we won't say anything mate, good on you'.

Of course, as with everything in Hogwarts, nothing was kept a secret for long. An hour later, half the Gryffindor common room was full of people back from dinner, and it seemed they all knew about the kiss between the pair. As promised it wasn't Lee, Fred or George that had spread it to the students, it was the portraits all over the common room that had told everyone.

* * *

_Please Review and Let me know what you think x_


	24. Chapter 24

_Sorry it's been so long_

_Enjoy_

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As usual Cass was one of the first people at breakfast and as everyone else slowly filtered in they could see her chuckling to herself at the newspaper in front of her. Fred and George sat down opposite her with Harry and Dean 'what are you laughing to yourself about?'

Still laughing she looked up, turning the paper to them 'Rita Skeeter has written arguably the most hilariously soppy article about you Potter, I've read it three times and it still makes me laugh'

Harry took the copy of the Prophet and read over the article quickly, looking distinctly less amused than the twins, Dean and Cass did.

'I didn't cry! Bloody hell, why is she lying about something like that? For Merlin's sake!'

George snickered 'poor lickle Harry, you really are an emotional wreck aren't you?'

Harry threw him a distinctly unimpressed look and Cass shrugged as Hermione, Seamus, Neville, Lavender and several other Gryffindor's sat down around them.

'don't worry Harry, Skeeter writes worse stories about me every year. She literally contacts us every bloody year and everyone who was at Mungo's when I was found. No matter how many times everyone tells her the same bloody story, she still prints this long story where I'm you know, crying myself to sleep every night or something. Horrible woman'

Cass looked up slightly and saw that Neville was sat beside her, and as their eyes met they gave each other a brief smile and returned to the conversations around them.

As everyone continued to talk, breakfast appeared on the tables and the Great Hall became more and more noisy as everyone started loading their plates up Seamus looked over at them with a smirk.

'You know everyone knows that you two were kissing in the common room last night by the way, so there isn't any point in being all shy and coy about it'

Neville and Cass looked up sharply and saw everyone looking amused, staring back at them.

'H- How?'

Fred held his hands up defensively 'It wasn't us- the portraits got a bit overexcited, couldn't keep it to themselves'

Cass and Neville both looked mortified and she went deeply red before standing up sharply, taking some toast and walking hurriedly out of the Great Hall. Neville looked at them all with a dark look, muttering 'thanks guys' before picking up his bag and hurrying after Cass.

He found her standing with her back against the wall beside the large entrance doors, with no one around them in the empty entrance hall.

Neville walked over warily 'Cass, look I'm sorry everyone found out-'

'I don't care about them knowing we kissed, Neville'

He blinked, looking confused 'then what- what is the problem Cass? You looked mortified'

Cass looked up and down the hall to check they were alone, her voice cracked and quiet 'I can't be with _you_ Neville, you're the sweetest guy in the world but I- I- I can't'

He frowned, looking confused 'what are you saying? Why?'

Cass swallowed, looking like she was about to cry 'it's not fair, it's not fair on you Neville'

He said nothing, looking confused and she shook her head, her voice quiet 'my mother…'

'Cass we've talked about thi-'

'Bellatrix, it's Bellatrix Lestrange'

She saw Neville's expression change from quiet concern to a mixture of confusion and horror 'Lestrange?'

Cass nodded slightly and Neville shook his head 'I think I'm going to be sick'

Cass looked wounded, her voice quiet 'I can't help it, it's not my fault', she reached out for his arm but Neville stepped back a little out of her reach, and Cass looked wounded as he ran a hand through his hair.

'I know it's not your fault Cass, I just… I can't be around you at the moment. I won't tell anyone, but I just… I need to go'

Neville turned and walked away from her, leaving Cass feeling completely broken and standing completely alone. As Neville disappeared around a corner, the bell went and Cass pulled her bag higher up on her shoulder and stormed out of the castle doors and out onto the grass and towards the lake, sitting heavily under one of the trees.

It wasn't a warm day, in fact it was fairly chilly and there was a layer of dew on the grass; Cass sat down heavily, her back against the trunk and she pulled her knees to her chest, head resting on her knees.

Cass felt a mixture of sadness and anger, aware that skipping class was going to incur some serious consequences, but she didn't even care anymore. Instead she sat mulling things over in her head for what ended up being over an hour.

By the time the second bell of the day rang, Snape and McGonnaghal had made a hurried search of the castle for the absent student, after it was made clear by the portraits that she hadn't returned to the common room.

They had ten minutes between their classes to check where Cass had gone, and quickly made it out to the front steps, where they both stopped suddenly as they saw her.

Cass was looking into the lake, hands on her knees and facing the lake, a set of twigs and rocks spinning around in the air in front of her.

McGonnaghal called out her name, walking over and looking furious as Snape muttered to himself 'wandless magic by fourth year… impressive'

Whist he was impressed with his daughters magical prowess, it also terrified him, feeling the ever stronger twinge of his Dark Mark. No matter how many times he told himself otherwise, Voldermort was somehow getting stronger, and when he did- he would come for Cass.

She was still at Hogwarts, incredibly smart, strong, and able to do wandless magic already… and she was the daughter of two of his favourite Death Eaters.

Snape was also terrified that his daughters recent spate of angry, destructive behaviour would simply drive her right into Voldermort's arms.

McGonnaghal practically dragged Cass into her next class, which was Trasfiguration. Most of the class were just sitting down and the teacher watched like a hawk as Cass took the only remaining space, which was beside Neville.

He looked at her with a distinctly pale face and she saw the expression behind his eyes.

It wasn't anger, it wasn't hatred… it was pity.

* * *

_Let me know what you think and review, and what you want to see happen_

_x_


	25. Chapter 25

Neville said nothing to Cass for the entire lesson, though she could feel his eyes on her, despite keeping her own eyes fixed firmly ahead of her, pretending to listen to McGonnaghal.

She couldn't hear anything McGonnaghal was saying, the words simply washing over her as the sick feeling in her stomach got worse.

Sitting out beside the lake had brought one of her worst fears to light for Cass. She was losing control over her magic, it wasn't a  
Secret that she was more powerful than most people her age, but she wasn't able to control it as she had previously.

When the bell went at the end of class, Cass was one of the first people to leave, books scooped into her bag before it had even stopped ringing. Harry, Ron and Hermione were already halfway down the corridor and she hurried to catch up with them.

She called out to Harry and he hung back and muttered, her voice quiet 'Harry, uh, Padfoot, I need to speak to him'

'Okay, the owl should be back soon, we can send our messages together. Is everything okay?' She shook her head honestly 'no, nothing is okay anymore'. Harry was about to speak when Cass turned and walked away, looking sullen and heading for the common room to quickly for him to keep up.

At dinner the announcement was made about the Yule Ball coming up in a month over Christmas, and everyone in the Hall looked either like they were going to burst with excitement or as if they had been told they had to battle a troll. As everyone got back to talking and eating Dean glanced up 'you alright Cass? Though you'd be excited?'

'Huh?' she hadn't been listening

'About the ball? I thought you'd be excited, but you look like you'd rather face a whole horde of dementors?'

She managed a weak laugh 'Balls and dancing isn't really my 'thing' to be honest'

Dean shrugged and the conversation returned to idle chatter about the tournemant and their work. Cass glanced around and met eyes with Neville, who barely moved until she dropped her fork and stood up, muttering something about not being hungry and abruptly leaving the Hall.

Ron frowned 'what the hell's got into her?'

They all shrugged and carried on eating as Neville looked up, seeing Cedric's eyes watching him angrily from across the Hall.

Harry left dinner soon after to get ready to meet Hagrid after the sun went down, the gameskeeper hadn't been specific about what was going on, but he suspected it had something to do with the upcoming First Task. The only people that knew what he was doing were Ron, Hermione and Cass. He'd only told her because he knew that if it was about the first Task, then it was only fair that Cedric would know as well.

When Harry came back to the Common Room it was relatively empty, with most people still at dinner, and he quickly spotted Cass sitting on her own beside the fire, feet up on the seat and staring into the fire, deep in thought.

'What's wrong? You've been off all day- and where were you this morning?'

She sighed, looking defeated 'Neville and I aren't exactly speaking, and it's my fault. I don't really want to talk about it'

Harry nodded, seeing that Cass had already dropped out of the conversation and was staring into the fire again, and he wandered off to his dormitory.

Half an hour later Cedric looked annoyed, cornering Neville as he was walking back up to the common room, pulling him into an empty classroom. 'Look Longbottom, my sister can't help who her mother is. It haunts her every single day to know where she came from, but you know what is going to hurt her more- losing you. So either break off contact with her all together or talk, don't leave her hanging. You don't know how long we have with each other'

Cedric was referring to friendships breaking down irrevocably, and had no idea that he himself wasn't going to be around for long with his little sister. Neville looked annoyed wth Cedric and exhaled deeply 'Of course I know it's not her bloody fault. I'm not even annoyed, I was just shocked. Her mother tortured my parents to insanity, sorry Cedric but it just shocked me a bit, okay?'

Cedric dropped his hands and Neville left the room, looking annoyed and slamming the door behind him.

Cass glanced up and Neville saw the tear stains on her face, the redness in her eyes and the hurt behind them. He had planned exactly what he was going to say but instead simply sat down beside her, an arm snaking around her as he pulled her into his side.

Most of the Gryffindor House was still finishing pudding or discussing the Ball, and there was only one or two people in the common room.

They sat like that in silence for almost ten minutes as Cass tried to keep her tears back, curled into Neville as he watched the fire.

He was the first to speak 'do you want to go to the ball together?'

She looked up in shock 'what?'

Neville shrugged 'you don't have to- I mean- you can go with someone else if you want... I'd like it if you went with me though'

Cass coughed away a lump in her throat 'are you sure?'

He nodded and she curled back into him 'thank you'

'Is that a yes then?'

'Yes'

Neville looked relieved 'I'm sorry about earlier… I just… I didn't know what to say'

'It doesn't matter, you're here now'


	26. Chapter 26

_Enjoy x_

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Cedric had seen his sister in the library attempting to do some work and they were walking down to dinner together when Cedric glanced around to see that no one could hear them as they wandered down the stone corridor.

'Turns out all the other champions have found out what the first task is, Harry told me earlier. Don't tell Mum because she'll freak out- but we have to get past Dragons'

Cass stopped sharply, looking horror- struck 'dragons? Please tell me you're joking Cedric?'  
'We get one each' She shook her head 'health and safety at this school isn't brilliant is it'

He laughed lightly 'Well exactly, Harry told me, apparently I was the only competitor who didn't know, it didn't seem fair' She blinked in surprise 'well, he's a better man than most'

'He said he was already in enough trouble for being in this competition, and didn't need more abuse for not telling me. Obviously I know that's not why he did it but still... Anyway, don't worry about me, we need to get moving for dinner or Ron Weasley will have snuffled up all the food on your House table'

The next morning the Gryffindor's had Defence against the Dark Arts with Mad Eye Moody and Cass wasn't exactly listening to what he was saying, largely because she remembered that she had forgotten something very important.

Cass had borrowed a book on dragons from Lee Jordan and had sat up all night reading it, completely forgetting to finish off her potions essay, and the class was next, meaning she had no time.

From the front of the class Moody was talking about memory wiping charms and watching her with both eyes for once 'someone in this room has had a memory charm put upon them, Miss Dolan'

She swallowed but didn't acknowledge the comment as Moody looked at her again 'and you have no memory of what happened do you?'

Her response was dry and cold 'I think that is the general idea of a memory wiping charm, yes'  
Moody laughed gruffly 'what a shame, we could have found out who cast the Dark Mark. Anyway-'

As he carried on Cass felt a flash of something cross her mind, it was the Dark Mark in the sky. As she looked at it with shock she heard a noise and turned, her eyes starting to adjust to the figure in front of her before it all disappeared, and she remembered where she was.  
Cass suddenly realised she had been holding her breath and took several deep breaths to compensate and Seamus glanced over at her, voice quiet 'Cass are you alright?'

She nodded, holding her head 'headache, I'm fine' He looked appeased and went back to his work; as she looked up at the board to check what the pages of reading were, Cass noticed a miss matched pair of eyes stating at her intently before Moody looked away quickly, pretending to be working hard.

That evening after dinner Snape glanced up to the knock at his door to see Cass standing there for her detention. Of course he wanted to let her off but he was Severus Snape, there was a reputation to uphold, and letting a Gryffindor student off unfinished homework was hardly like him.

Snape sighed 'detention again Miss Dolan, really? I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore'  
She threw her bag on the floor and sat in one of the empty seats with a sigh, pulling out a thick, heavy book. Snape raised an eyebrow

'Colfer's Guide to Dragons edition 5? I wasn't aware that Hagrid was introducing anything new to the curriculum'  
She rolled her eyes 'he's not, you know that Sir. I know about the dragons for the first task, so do all the champions, obviously Karkoff was the first to find out. Big-fucking-surprise'

'Mind your language. And what is that supposed to mean?'

Snape realised as he said it that this was probably the most conversation he had ever willingly had with a non Slytherin student and mentally kicked himself for acting differently around her. She might have been his daughter but he didn't want her to get suspicious about him being so nice to her.

Cass was used to a far softer side of the potions teacher than everyone else was however, and shrugged

'He gives me the creeps, he doesn't come across exactly squeaky clean. I know he was you know... A death eater... But most people can change, Karkoff isn't one of them- just my opinion of course'

Snape's eyes were sharp, he knew that the hesitance in her voice had been because she didn't want to talk about ex death eaters and offend him, and steered the conversation away.

'Karkoff was cleared by the committee'

'And? So was Lucius Malfoy and my- Bellatrix Lestrange was initially cleared as well, just to make that point'

Snape had to admit that she had a valid point and sighed, shaking his head and returning to his work, silently realising that she had so nearly said the words 'and my mother'. She knew who Bellatrix was to her, somehow she had worked it out.

Snape sighed slightly to himself. She couldn't finish one bloody essay but she could find out the best kept secret in the Wizarding World.

They were silent for a few minutes before Cass broke the silence, her voice quiet 'I don't trust Mad Eye Moody either. I don't know why, he spent half the class today asking if I remembered anything about the night I had my memory wiped...he just makes me feel uneasy'

Snape looked curious 'why was he asking that?'

'I don't know. It definitely brought something back though'. Snape saw how deeply thoughtful she looked and left Cass to think, not even realising that he hadn't set her any work or lines to do but just silently carried on with his work.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were amongst the last twenty or so people hanging around in the common room as it was getting fairly late by the time Cass actually came back up, lugging her bag with her and sitting down with them on the comfy sofas.

'Has Neville already gone up to bed?' Ron nodded with a yawn 'he went up with Seamus and Dean a few minutes ago, how was detention?'

She shrugged 'yeah, I just read for a bit and finished the essay off'. Harry looked up in confusion 'you mean he just let you do what you wanted? That's not fair'

Cass laughed and yawned 'maybe he likes me maybe, I dunno?'

Ron snorted with derisive laughter 'don't kid yourself Cass, Snape probably doesn't know how to like people, it's just because you're smart'

'Hmm, Hermione did you go to the library this evening?'

Neither Harry nor Ron were paying much attention and didn't notice Hermione's slight blush and her shy nod, making Cass smirk. She knew exactly why Hermione had gone to the library, it was to see Krum without Ron lurking around her.

The next day was Friday and the Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years had double potions at the end of the day. The potion they had been assigned to make over the two hours was complex and required some incredibly difficult methods and Cass was doing her best to help Neville along but he was still struggling.

It was about an hour in to the class and everyone was starting to light the fires beneath their cauldron's and the room quickly heated up, with everyone taking of their jumpers and fanning themselves as they tentatively watched their potions and there was some noise and shouts as Goyle's had now turned a dark brown and was bubbling wildly.

Snape reached an arm up to his head to wipe the sweat off of the side of his face, his sleeve falling back slightly. No one in the class even vaguely noticed the dark bruise snaking down his arm, those that saw it didn't give it a second thought.

Except for Cass.

She saw it and a look of shock, horror and confusion flew over her face, and all of the colour drained from it. She had seen images in a book of what it looked like when someone had imparted magic to someone, and the marks that were left behind. She knew that her parents had and as she saw the marks, something clicked in Cass's head.

Snape looked over the class just in time to see the pale, horrified expression on his daughters face before she abruptly retched and vomited into the nearest thing to her, which happened to be Pansy Parkinson's cauldron

* * *

_Let me know what you thought and what you want to see. Please review etc :D_

_So, what is Cass going to do now she knows? Or will Snape deny it?_


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